A new conference at the Maison des Cultures et Mémoires de Guyane focuses on Maurice Dumesnil, a colorful character who created airmail in French Guiana in 1949. A life story recreated by the historian-archivist and writer , Rémy Péru-Dumesnil this April 14 at 6 p.m.
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The direction of the MCMG continues the cycle of its conferences and thus it offers the opportunity to the public to discover a page of the Guyanese history of the Fifties: that of the adventure of the airmail.
Founded in France in April 1927 by Marcel Bouilloux Laffont, airmail is mainly represented by airmen who deliver mail around the world. Three personalities forever mark this heroic era, Henri Guillaumet, Jean Mermoz and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The latter being the best known because also a writer, Grand Prix of the French Academy for his work “Terre des hommes” and especially for his philosophical tale, “The Little Prince”.
In Guyana, from 1949, Maurice Dumesnil, aviator, mechanic who rubbed shoulders with these famous men, flew all over the world and accomplished the 1st commercial night link from Dakar to Casablanca, will develop airmail and subsequently air transport in this distant South American territory. A singular and unusual story, of a former resistant of the 39-45 war, that Rémy Péru Dumesnil, his grandson will make discover to the Guyanese:
“I did not know my grandfather who died before I was born and it was by immersing myself in the archives that I realized the richness of Dumesnil’s career”.
The anecdotes are numerous and tasty about him smiles the speaker, a way of illustrating an adventurer’s journey out of the ordinary on the scale of Guyana:
“Do you realize, in 1949 he left Paris by plane, went through New York, went down to the Caribbean. At the same time, a plane in spare parts leaves at the same time, conveyed by boat. Dumesnil and its spare parts come together in Trinidad. There Dumesnil and his assistant mechanic, Maxime Lebreton, reassemble the plane and depart from Trinidad to arrive in Cayenne where they will found SATGA, the Guyanese and Caribbean Air Transport Company…”.
The whole story is thus dotted with rich anecdotes, assures the historian.
The rest of the story of Maurice Dumesnil born February 24, 1904 in Suresnes and died December 30, 1967 in Matoury is to discover this April 14 at 6 p.m. at the MCMG in Rémire-Montjoly.
