VISION
On the 12 th March 1968, the independence of Mauritius was
proclaimed. At that time, you were 31 years old. Where were
you? How did you react to the news?
I was in France. I reacted with admiration for Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister of Mauritius. Born in Curepipe
and holder of both Mauritian and French passports, I was
pleased and proud of my country and the double French and
British heritage it had been blessed with. Back then, I was the
Director of Research Application at Institut Pasteur in Paris.
It was great news for me. I did understand that we were going
to lose our assets in the sugar industry, but I was not worried.
Some traditional families were in a great fear to lose part of their
heritage. Some left the country, some returned and their children
regained confidence in the government.
You were born in Curepipe from a Mauritian father and a
Russian mother. I guess you had a wonderful childhood in
Mauritius.
In fact, I left Mauritius when I was two. My father’s job
was to look after the sugar plantation, but his heart was
with his paintings. He decided to try his luck as an artist
in France. In my father’s studio in Paris, I could travel back
in the Mauritian world again - the songs of the bulbuls, the
stuffed animals, the fishes… But it was not until I was 16
that I returned to the island to spend some holidays with my
brother, Arnaud*. We stayed at the Château de la Villebague
in Pamplemousse, our family house with its shingle roof, its
exotic flair, its gar