Sabine Andrivon-Milton

Lore & Background

Sabine Andrivon-Milton studied at the University of the French Antilles and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, defending her doctoral thesis 'La Martinique et la Grande Guerre' in December 2003. She is president of the Association Histoire Militaire de la Martinique, through which she discovered nearly 150 names of Martinique soldiers who died in the First World War and were awarded 'Mort pour la France' but not inscribed on war memorials. She campaigned successfully for several municipalities to add these names and for new memorials to be erected in communes lacking them.

As part of the First World War centenary, she spoke on Martinican women's war efforts and presented on Antillean and Guyanese soldiers at a Senate round table. She organized the event 'La Martinique et sa filleule Étain,' which received the Label Centenaire, bringing a delegation of 94 Martiniquais to Étain, Meuse. She also devised educational board games such as 'Je découvre la Martinique' and 'La Martinique au bout des doigts,' and hosts a radio program 'Une île une histoire' on Martinique première radio.

Reader's Guide

Sabine Andrivon-Milton's significance lies in her dual role as a historian and public advocate for the recognition of Martinique's contributions to the First World War. By identifying nearly 150 omitted names and pushing for their inclusion on war memorials, she corrected a historical oversight and ensured that these soldiers are publicly honored. Her work extends to erecting new memorials and organizing commemorative events, such as the 'Monuments aux morts en lumières' illumination and the twinning visit to Étain. As an educator, she created accessible board games to teach Martinique's history to young people, and her radio program further popularizes this knowledge. Her efforts have been recognized with honors including Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur and Chevalier de l'ordre national du Mérite. Her legacy is one of bridging academic research with community memory, ensuring that Martinique's war history is neither forgotten nor marginalized.

Did You Know?

• She designed the board game 'La Martinique au bout des doigts' in 2018 and other educational games.
• On 19 March 2021, Sainte-Thérèse B Elementary School in Fort-de-France was renamed the Sabine ANDRIVON-MILTON Elementary School.

Academic Path and Scholarly Focus

Sabine Andrivon-Milton was born on 22 February 1970 and grew up in Martinique, attending Sainte-Thérèse B primary school, the collège de Sainte-Thérèse, and completing her baccalaureate at the lycée de Bellevue. Her higher education took her to the University of the French Antilles in Schœlcher and then to Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, where she deepened her scholarly training. In December 2003, she defended her doctoral thesis, La Martinique et la Grande Guerre, a work that crystallised her lifelong commitment to military history. This doctoral research became the foundation for her subsequent career as a historian, teacher, author, and public intellectual. Her specialisation in the military history of Martinique set her apart in a field where the island's contributions to France's wars had long been overlooked. The thesis was later published by Éditions L'Harmattan in November 2005, making her academic findings accessible to a broader readership and establishing her as a leading voice on the subject.

Restoring Forgotten Names to War Memorials

As president of the Association Histoire Militaire de la Martinique, Andrivon-Milton dedicated herself to a deeply personal and painstaking mission: ensuring that no Martiniquais soldier who gave his life for France remained nameless. Her research uncovered nearly 150 soldiers who had been awarded the distinction Mort pour la France during the First World War yet whose names were absent from local war memorials. She mobilised municipalities across the island—Vauclin, Saint-Joseph, Basse-Pointe, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Sainte-Marie, Trinité, Fort-de-France, Marigot, Fonds-Saint-Denis, and Gros-Morne—to inscribe these long-omitted names. Beyond restoration, she campaigned for the erection of entirely new memorials in communes that lacked one, including Sainte-Luce, Saint-Pierre, and Rivière-Pilote. She also conceived the Monuments aux morts en lumières event, which illuminated war memorials during the week surrounding the 11 November Armistice anniversary. Her influence extended to the national stage when she held a conference at the Ministry of Overseas France in Paris, gathering specialists from Guadeloupe, Réunion, New Caledonia, and French Guiana to discuss the role of former French colonies in the Great War.

The Centenary and the Étain Bond

The First World War centenary gave Andrivon-Milton a platform to amplify her research on a national scale. She presented findings on Martiniquais women's contributions to the war effort, drawn from correspondence and local press, at the symposium La Caraïbe et la Première Guerre mondiale, co-organised by the Archives départementales de la Guadeloupe and the Société d'histoire de la Guadeloupe. On 8 July she participated in a Senate roundtable, delivering a paper on Antillean and Guyanese soldiers in the Great War that detailed conscription, the hardships endured, the battles fought, and the human cost, singling out aviators Jean-Marie Guibert and Pierre Réjon. Her most ambitious centenary project was La Martinique et sa filleule Étain, which received the official Label Centenaire. A delegation of 94 Martiniquais travelled to Étain in the Meuse, a town destroyed in the war and rebuilt with funds from Martinique. Fifty-four young people from the colleges of Terreville and Vauclin and the Robert LPA joined veterans and community members for ceremonies at the Bois des Caures, the signing of the twinning agreement between Étain and Vauclin, and tributes to Martinique's fallen soldiers.

Teaching, Games, and Public Memory

Andrivon-Milton has always believed that history must reach people where they are, especially young minds. In October 2017 she designed a nine-card family game called Je découvre la Martinique, followed in 2018 by the board game La Martinique au bout des doigts. Subsequent titles, including Martinik Mémory and other multigame collections, extended her playful approach to teaching the island's past. Beyond games, she is a frequent speaker in schools, associations, and community organisations, explaining Martinique's role in the Great War to audiences of all ages. She hosts the radio programme Une île une histoire on Martinique Première and has produced several history television series on the same station, including Propos de guerre (2013), Lettres de poilus martiniquais (2014), and Des soldats martiniquais de la Grande Guerre (2015). She has also appeared in multiple documentaries, from Antilles, la guerre oubliée (2019) to Martinique, à jamais dans nos cœurs (2021). In a fitting tribute to her educational legacy, Sainte-Thérèse B Elementary School in Fort-de-France was renamed the Sabine Andrivon-Milton Elementary School on 19 March 2021.

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