New scientific publication on the work of Count Móric Beňovský in Madagascar, published in Paris
A critical edition of selected written documents on the work of Count Móric Beňovský in Madagascar from the years 1774 to 1786 is currently being published in Paris. Africanist Silvester Trnovec from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the SAS participated in its preparation, in cooperation with historians Patrik Kunec and Rafael Thiebaut.
The publication makes available previously little-known archival sources, mainly from French archives, which provide new insights into the involvement of a nobleman from the territory of former Upper Hungary in the processes of European colonialism and Atlantic trade at the end of the 18th century. The documents also offer a rare insight into the relations and contacts between Count Beňovský and the indigenous population of Madagascar, thereby significantly contributing to a deeper understanding of the region's history during the early colonial period.
The book is published in French in the prestigious Sources africaines/African Sources series, issued by the Academy of Overseas Sciences in Paris (Académie des sciences d’outre-mer). The publication is also part of the international project Fontes Historiae Africanae/Sources to the History of Africa, implemented under the auspices of the International Union of Academies (Union académique internationale), based in Brussels.
The publication is the result of long-term international cooperation between the Institute of Oriental Studies of the SAS in Bratislava, the Department of History of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, and the Academy of Overseas Sciences in Paris.
The impulse for implementing the project came from the doc. Viera Pawliková-Vilhanová, a prominent Slovak Africanist and long-time researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the SAS, who unfortunately did not live to see its completion. The completion and publication of this work are also a tribute to her scientific legacy and contributions to African and historical studies.
Source: Martina Herbst, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Illustration image: ÚO SAS