Zéna M’Déré

Zéna M'Déré (c. 1917 to 1922 – October 27, 1999) was a Mayotte woman best known as the leader of the Chatouilleuses, a movement of women who fought to maintain Mayotte's status as a French overseas department rather than joining Comoros in declaring independence, notably through the use of tickle torture on political leaders.

Biography Zéna M'Déré was born sometime between 1917 and 1922 in Pamandzi, Mayotte.

She moved to Antsiranana, Madagascar, and ran a Koranic school there. But she was expelled from the country by Malagasy President Philibert Tsiranana in 1966 and returned to her native island, just as the divide between Mayotte and the rest of the Comoros archipelago was reaching a breaking point. The island chain's president had transferred the capital from Mayotte to his home island of Grande Comore in 1961, which reduced Mayotte residents' political power and was taken as an affront. The Mahorans also saw themselves as more educated, wealthy, Westernized, and secular than the rest of the Comoros. The French government's rhetoric contributed to the divisions between the two camps, as France hoped to retain a foothold in the area.

Back at home, M'Déré became a major figure in the Mahoran women's movement. In 1966, she became the leader of Mayotte's women's revolt, an insurrectionary movement in favor of the island's break with the Comorian authorities, which would allow Mayotte to remain part of the French Republic. These activists, sometimes referred to as the Chatouilleuses, notably employed tickle torture to compel Comorian officials to comply with their demands. The mobs of tickling women would attack pro-independence leaders, such as Saïd Mohamed Cheikh, while they were out walking and even physically force them onto planes that would take them off the island.

After the split between Mayotte and Comoros was secured and the new party was established, M'Déré largely withdrew from politics.

In 2012, she appeared on a 10-euro coin minted by the Monnaie de Paris, representing Mayotte as part of a special coin collection. A school in Pamandzi is also named in her honor.