Jean-Marie Tjibaou

Who was Jean-Marie Tjibaou?

Jean-Marie Tjibaou was a leader of the Kanak independence movement and a politician in New Caledonia. The son of a tribal chief, Tjibaou was ordained a priest but abandoned his religious vocation for a life in political activism. He was appointed mayor of Hienghène in 1977 and the head of the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front in 1984.

On 4 May 1989, he was assassinated in Ouvéa by another Kanak. A cultural leader in the promotion of the indigenous Kanak culture, the modern Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, is named in his honour.

During the 1970s, he undertook a thesis in ethnology at the Sorbonne. While he did not complete his studies, he became engaged in cultural and ethnicity issues on New Caledonia. In 1975 he arranged the Melanesia 2000 festival, which emphasized the Kanak identity.

Tjibaou made his way into politics when he ran for the municipal election in Hienghène in 1977, where he was appointed mayor of Hienghène. In 1979 he was made territorial councillor in the newly formed Independence Front.