Marie-Thérèse Julien Lung-Fou

Julien Lung-Fou's statue of Victor Schoelcher in the town of Schoelcher, (destroyed). Marie-Thérèse Julien Lung-Fou (11 May 1909-24 January 1981) was the first female sculptor in Martinique, an island in the French West Indies. She was also a storyteller, poet, and painter. She was known for her visual expression of her multiethnic background, possessing Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, and European heritage. She married her husband Julien at that time, taking the name Lung-Fou to honor her two grandfathers, one born in Dieppe, the other in Canton, and her mixed-race Martinican grandmothers.

Lung-Fou traveled throughout the French colonial empire, learning about the various cultures and ethnicities throughout the territories. She was involved with the Société Coloniale des Artistes Français (SCAF), but as a woman she was only permitted on the fringes, limiting her ability to further her career and gain recognition. She spent ten years in French Indochina with her husband before returning to Martinique by 1945. In Fort-de-France, Lung-Fou was able to establish herself as an artist, using her studio to teach young women various visual arts in addition to taking commissions. This book translates La Fontaine's French tales into Creole, with illustrations by the author.

Lung-Fou died on January 24, 1981 at the age of 71. She sought to demonstrate her mixed background through her work. As a result, her art encompassed various subjects and styles. Her wide range of talents included sculpture, painting, drawing, poetry, theatre, storytelling and children’s literature. She is also known as a collector and writer of créole tales who worked to preserve and maintain creole culture, in Carnival, in her own conduct and through storytelling.

In its page about the dedication, the town's site quotes Julien Lung-Fou speaking about her interest in tales:

Her writing is used to teach Martinican Creole; it is a part of the literary history of the language as well as an inspiration to contemporary writers.

However, some of Lung-Fou's works have also attracted controversy, particularly her 1964 sculpture of abolitionist Victor Schoelcher. Critics accused the statue, alongside other works depicting Schoelcher, of perpetuating a narrative of passivity by Martinique's enslaved population. In 2013, Lung-Fou's statue was vandalized, being branded with pro-independence slogans while having its face destroyed.

1958

1973

1979

1980 (in collaboration with Renée Beuze)

1977 A preface for René Bonneville's (1871-1902)

1980

1980

1980

Theatre 1969 ; three comedies of manners written with Albert Adréa: and .

Poetry 1958 : (poèmes)

1976