Martinique is known all over the world with its nickname "the island of flowers" but you can also find it the nickname "island of Coming back". So why is the island called the Isle of coming back?
It owes its nickname to a quote written in Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les Français " (General History of the Antilles inhabited by the French) by Jean-Baptiste du Tertre (1610-1687), a man of the church and botanist who made several trips to Martinique in the 1640s. He wrote in particular at the time: "The way of life in the country is so pleasant that I have not seen a single man, or even a single woman who have returned from there, without a great passion to return there."
Later, Roger Vercel (1894-1957) a writer-traveler published a book in 1954 titled "Island of Coming back". In his book the French author refers to Martinique as being the Island of coming back and sees himself surely coming back there. At that time, he was returning from a trip to the French Antilles and used the expression already used by Jean-Baptiste du Tertre.
Martinique for many is the island of an inevitable return because over the years, decades and its history several more or less famous men have chosen to come back to the island. If many nationals of the island leave it for professional reasons (studies, work), to explore new horizons, the majority always return at the end of a stage of their life (end of studies, unemployment, separation, retirement).
Likewise, many tourists who have stayed on the island have often returned to review and enjoy a second time this little paradise that has remained in their memories. Some have even established their vacation base there and return regularly to the island. Others have even chosen the island as a home for their retirement.
Among these famous Martinicans who returned to the island, we can cite in particular men like Victor Depaz who had the misfortune of losing his whole family during the eruption of Mount Pelée. However, he returned to the land of his childhood, buying the house where he had grown up and building the Depaz distillery. There is also Aimé Césaire, author of Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, who returns to his native lands after his studies in Paris to defend the cause of those he calls his people.
Like them, many Martinicans have preferred to emigrate to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere (Metropolitan France, Europe, North and South America), thinking that they will sometimes find greener grass elsewhere, but once installed, the heat, human relations, calm and the sweetness of their native island left them a bit nostalgic. As soon as the opportunity arose, they moved back to the island. However, their rehabilitation on the island was not always a real success because these "uprooted" had lost their "West Indian" habits, they sometimes had to resolve to return to their lands of exile.
Thus, Martinique has experienced various waves of emigration in its history mainly for reasons related to unemployment on the island. One of the most important was BUMIDOM (BUreau pour le développement des MIgrations dans les Départements d’Outre-Mer). The Bureau for the development of Migrations in the Overseas Departments is an organization created by Michel Debré in 1963. While the island is hit by a high rate of unemployment due to the crisis in the sugar industry in the Antilles, an appeal is launched by the government in metropolitan France to promote the emigration of Afro-descendants from the overseas departments to metropolitan France, which was then lacking in manpower. Thus, nearly 16,580 Martinicans left their island to settle in metropolitan France, living in conditions often far removed from those promised in the propaganda campaign. From there were born generations of Antilleans called “Négropolitains” or “Neg'zagonal”, a term which designates a Antillean born in metropolis. The latter have sometimes tried to settle in an island which was their "vacation destination" with varying degrees of success.
The other big wave was made during the works of the Panama Canal in 1906. These exiles who dreamed of a better life than that in the sugar cane fields were greatly disappointed by the reality of life that awaited them. The promised return to their native island was never even offered due to the 1914 war which had just exploded in Europe.
Today, many young people leave the island once they have obtained their baccalaureate to continue their studies in metropolitan France. The island is therefore losing many young people and the direct consequence is the aging of the population and the gradual decline in the number of inhabitants on the island (378,243 inhabitants in 2015 against 394,173 inhabitants in 2010 according to INSEE, the French polling institute). While some return at the end of their studies, others settle in mainland France or in foreign countries permanently. Will they return later to their island so dear to their hearts to perpetuate this nickname?
