Soon after the Alliance Francaise auditorium was named after legal luminary David Annoussamy on Friday, the city’s premier cultural venue initiated a new phase in its journey by hosting a Carnatic concert by vocalist Bombay Jayashree.
The Alliance Francaise, which is among the oldest chapters in the world and the earliest in Asia, has also named a renovated library (Mediatheque) after the late French historian-researcher Jean Deloche, whose lifelong mission had been to research and memorialise the shared Franco-Indian heritage of the settlements. His body of work serves both as an introduction to the history of old French establishments in India as well as an inventory of vanished monuments.
Leading the felicitations for Mr. Annoussamy, a former Judge of the Madras High Court, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said the government was committed to protect and preserve its legacy and to pass on the knowledge of erstwhile Pondicherry’s history and heritage to the young generation.
Noting that Mr. Annoussamy, who was the first judge from Puducherry to be elevated to the Madras High Court, had a reputation for being a fair judge, was the person he had relied on to head a panel of experts to resolve the dilemma of whether Puducherry should celebrate Independence on August 16 (as it was on that day in 1962 that France ceded through de jure transfer to India full sovereignty over the territories) or November 1 ( marking the de facto transfer made through a treaty of cessation between the French and Indian governments on November 1, 1954 ) — November 1 is now celebrated as Liberation Day since 2014 based on the panel’s recommendation. Mr. Rangasamy added that in the history of Puducherry, Mr. Annoussamy would surely find a place. Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said Mr. Annoussamy had made contributions not only in legal jurisprudence but in diverse areas ranging from Francophonie to education, culture and heritage. A little known facet is that he was instrumental in decreeing industrial Dearness Allowance in Puducherry long before it became standard elsewhere. “He was a pre-eminent expert in comparative law, but I would say he himself is beyond compare,” Mr. Lakshminarayanan remarked. French Consul General Lise Talbot Barre, Lila Kernoua, Alliance Francaise Director, Satish Nallam, Alliance Francaise president, and V. Nallam, past president, were among those who spoke on the occasion. Later, in a preface to her concert, Ms. Jayashree noted that this was one of the first live events she was attending after nearly two years of disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She hoped that the world would be able to put behind the sufferings of the pandemic and move ahead with happiness and prosperity.
