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Jacques Drollet

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For his nephew, see Jacqui Drollet.

Jacques Denis Drollet (6 December 1923 – 5 December 2015)[1] was a French Polynesian politician and educator. He served two five-year terms in the Assembly of French Polynesia, as a member of the Rassemblement démocratique des populations tahitiennes (RDPT).[1]

Early life and political career

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Drollet has been variously described as having joined the Free French Navy when he was 17, serving in an informal French/American "liaison" unit during the Solomon Islands campaign, and on the Triomphant,[2] where he assisted in the evacuation of Nauru,[3]: 203  and as having joined the American army at 18 because he could not join the French forces.[4] After the end of the Second World War, Drollet attended normal school in Toulouse, and then returned to French Polynesia where he worked as a schoolteacher.[2]

Drollet joined the teachers' union, where he soon became a leader. In 1956, he joined the Rassemblement démocratique des populations tahitiennes (RDPT), and was elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia in November 1957. There, he served as chief of staff for Minister of Education Walter Grand.[2] During the unrest in the aftermath of the 1958 independence referendum, Drollet tried, but failed, to convince pro-independence leader Pouvanaa a Oopa to leave Papeete. After Pouvanaa was arrested, Drollet introduced a resolution in the Assembly stating that Polynesia would always be part of France;[a][2] however, he also spoke out in support of Pouvanaa,[3]: 196 [b] and in 1962 introduced a resolution asking that the Assembly intervene on Pouvanaa's behalf.[5] After Charles de Gaulle banned the RDPT in 1964,[6] Drollet did not join its successor party Here Ai'a, and did not run for office in the 1967 election.[2]

Nuclear testing

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In June 1962, Drollet told the Territorial Assembly that media sources were speculating about the possibility of nuclear testing within French Polynesian territory. Jacques Foccart denied that this would happen; regardless, in January 1963, the Assembly sent a delegation of 6 parliamentarians, including Drollet, to France, where they had an audience with Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle proposed to them that the Centre d'Expérimentations Nucléaires du Pacifique (CEP), a weapons research facility, be constructed in French Polynesia, arguing that it would be economically beneficial. While the delegation was in Paris, the French military began construction of the CEP on the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, without notifying the Territorial Assembly.[7]

Drollet returned to Paris in late 1964 to discuss French Polynesian finances, and to negotiate the price that France would pay for the use of the atolls. During this visit, he had a private meeting with de Gaulle, after which he proposed that the atolls be given to France in perpetuity, free of charge. He initially claimed that de Gaulle had appealed to his patriotism;[4] however, in 2005, he testified before a public inquiry held by the Territorial Assembly, and said that de Gaulle had threatened to declare all of French Polynesia a "strategic military territory"[c] and impose a military government.[8]

On 6 February 1964, Drollet chaired the meeting of the Assembly's permanent commission at which the proposal to give the atolls to France was approved, by a vote of 3–0 with 2 abstentions.[9]: 33  He later said that he hoped France would never forget what Polynesia had done.[9]: 36 [d] In September 1966, de Gaulle invited Drollet to be present at the Bételgeuse test.[9]: 46 

Later life and legacy

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Drollet spent 15 years as the director of the Territorial Education Service ("Service de l'Education Territorial").[1] In this role, he pioneered the use of Tahitian as a language of instruction,[3]: 203  and in 1965, he established French Polynesia's first kindergarten ("école maternelle").[10][11]

In 1972, in collaboration with Yoshihiko Sinoto, and at the encouragement of Marlon Brando, Drollet "establish[ed] an archaeological field school" for the exploration of sites on Teti'aroa, which Brando had recently purchased.[12] As well, he served as the administrator of the Austral Islands for three years,[1][2] and as chairman of the board of directors of the Office of Tourism.[3]: 200  He was a co-founder of the airline Air Polynésie;[1] in 1985, when Air Polynésie acquired the former Air Tahiti and took the subsidiary's name, he was one of only two Polynesians on the company's board of directors.[13] He also co-founded the Socredo bank.[1][2]

Personal life

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Drollet was the father of Dag Drollet, who was romantically involved with Cheyenne Brando, daughter of Marlon Brando—and who in 1991 was killed by Christian Brando, Marlon Brando's son. In the aftermath of Christian Brando's conviction for manslaughter, Drollet threatened to have Marlon Brando arrested if he ever returned to French Polynesia.[14] He was also the uncle of French Polynesian politician Jacqui Drollet.[15]

Recognition

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Drollet was an Officer of the Legion of Honour, a Commander of the Ordre des Palmes académiques, and a Commander of the Order of Tahiti Nui.[1]

French Polynesian author Chantal Spitz's 1991 novel L'Île des rêves écrasés, about the beginning of nuclear testing in French Polynesia, includes a corrupt politician named "John Prallet", who voluntarily offers the (fictional) islet of Ruahine to France. Literary scholar Anaïs Maurer has called Prallet a "faintly veiled caricature" of Drollet.[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ "que la Polynésie restât à jamais partie intégrante de la République française"
  2. ^ "Lorsqu'après la condamnation de Pouvana'a a O'opa sur une accusation fausse (le cocktail Molotov censé incendier la ville avait été envoyé par-dessus un mur par un employé de la mairie et aussitôt récupéré de l'autre côté du mur par un autre employé de la même mairie), j'ai été le seul universitaire français, en collaboration avec Jacques Drollet, à multiplier les démarches pour le faire libérer en arguant des faux témoignages évidents"
  3. ^ "Territoire stratégique militaire"
  4. ^ "en espérant que jamais la France n'oublierait le service que nous le rendions sur ce plan (...) en espérant que la France ne nous oublierait pas."

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Jacques Denis Drollet est décédé, at Tahiti Nui Television; published 5 December 2015; retrieved 5 May 2025
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jacques-Denis Drollet, un homme dévoué à son Pays, by Tamara Sentis; at Radio 1 Tahiti; published 6 December 2015 retrieved 5 May 2025
  3. ^ a b c d Carnet de Route Oceanien,by Patrick O'Reilly; published 2012 by Le Rocher-a-la-Voile, New Caledonia; ISBN 9782953950915; archived at Tenete-Tahiti.org
  4. ^ a b Compte rendu de réunion n° 10 - Commission d'enquête relative à la politique française d'expérimentation nucléaire, à l'ensemble des conséquences de l'installation et des opérations du Centre d'expérimentation du Pacifique en Polynésie française, à la reconnaissance, à la prise en charge et à l'indemnisation des victimes des essais nucléaires français, ainsi qu'à la reconnaissance des dommages environnementaux et à leur réparation: 17e législature, Session 2024 – 2025, at the Assemblée Nationale; published 3 March 2025
  5. ^ Some Aspects of Modern Politics and Personality in French Polynesia, by William E. Tagupa, in The Journal of Pacific History; Vol. 9 (1974), pp. 135-145
  6. ^ "TWO POLITICAL PARTIES BANNED IN TAHITI". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 34, no. 5. 1 December 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Les élus polynésiens face à l'installation du CEP (1962-1966), by Renaud Meltz and Manatea Taiarui; at Dictionnaire historique du CEP; published 7 February 2025; retrieved 6 May 2025
  8. ^ COMMISSION D'ENQUÊTE chargée de recueillir tous éléments d'information sur les conséquences des essais nucléaires aériens entre 1966 et 1974 pour les populations de la Polynésie française : M. Jacques-Denis Drollet : Audition du 13 septembre 2005, at the Assembly of French Polynesia; retrieved 6 May 2025
  9. ^ a b c Les polynésiens et les essais nucléaires, produced by the Commission d'enquête sur les conséquences des essais nucléaires, for the Assembly of French Polynesia; written and compiled by Bruno Barrillot; published 2006
  10. ^ Tama Nui, la plus ancienne école maternelle polynésienne devient la plus moderne, at Papeete.pf; published 11 December 2023; retrieved 6 May 2025
  11. ^ L'école Tama Nui fête ses 50 ans et sera reconstruite, at Tahiti-Infos.com; published 1 October 2015; retrieved 29 May 2025; "En 1965, c'était à la demande de Jacques-Denis Drollet que les enseignantes de l'école Tipaerui Plage avaient alors constitué la première équipe pédagogique maternelle de la capitale polynésienne pour répondre à la demande de scolarisation précoce des enfants, avant l'âge de six ans requis pour l'enseignement obligatoire en classe primaire. "
  12. ^ A Great Discovery on Huahine, by Yosihiko Sinoto; in Mānoa; Volume 28, Number 1, 2016; p. 133
  13. ^ From Air Polynésie to Air Tahiti, at Air Tahiti; retrieved 6 May 2025
  14. ^ Last Tango on Brando Island, by Julian Sancton; in Maxim; published 11 December 2008; retrieved 6 May 2025
  15. ^ Malnic, Eric and Harris, Scott (18 May 1990). "Marlon Brando's Son Held in Fatal Shooting : Homicide: Boyfriend of Christian Brando's half-sister is slain at the actor's estate. Suspect had accused victim of physically abusing her". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  16. ^ The Ocean on Fire: Pacific Stories from Nuclear Survivors and Climate Activists. Chapter 5: Radiation Refugees: "Rethinking the Age of Mass Migration", by Anaïs Maurer; p. 158; published 2024 by Duke University Press
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