Louis-Benoit Zamor (1762-1820)

Louis-Benoit Zamor is best known for helping to send French Aristocrat Madame Jeanne du Barry to the guillotine during the French Revolution (1789-1794). Born in Chittagong, India (present-day Bengal), probably of Siddi ancestry (the Siddi were Indians of African descent), Zamor’s birth year is generally … Read MoreLouis-Benoit Zamor (1762-1820)

Olga (Ollie) Burgoyne (1879-1974)

Olga “Ollie” Burgoyne, also known as Ollie Burgoyne-Calloway, was a singer and dancer specializing in Russian and other ethnic dances. She was also an actress and businesswoman who gained popularity during the Harlem Renaissance and left her mark as one of the most influential African … Read MoreOlga (Ollie) Burgoyne (1879-1974)

Gisèle Rabesahala (1929-2011)

Gisèle Rabesahala, a political and human rights activist and councilwoman, was born Marie Gisèle Aimée Rabesahala on May 7, 1929, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, which had been a French colonial possession since 1896. Her father was a non-commissioned French army officer, and Rabesahala spent her childhood … Read MoreGisèle Rabesahala (1929-2011)

Thérèse Sita-Bella (1933-2006)

Thérèse Sita-Bella, born Thérèse Bella Mbida in 1933, was a Cameroonian film director who is widely acknowledged as the first female filmmaker in Africa. Sita-Bella was born to the Beti tribe in southern Cameroon, then a French colony, and received her education from Catholic missionaries. … Read MoreThérèse Sita-Bella (1933-2006)