Alfred Albert Martineau

Alfred Albert Martineau was a notable historian and colonial administrator in the French Colonial Empire.
He wrote extensively on colonial affairs and the history of French colonial expansion, in particular a six-volume Histoire des colonies françaises et de l'expansion française dans le monde co-authored with former French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux. Upon retirement from colonial service in 1921 he taught colonial history at the Collège de France until 1935.
He was a founding member of the Société de l'histoire de l'Inde française, the and the Académie des sciences coloniales.

Early life

Martineau was born on 18 December 1859 in Artins, which was then part of the Second French Empire. He graduated from the École Nationale des Chartes, where he trained as an archivist-paleographer.

Political career

In 1888 he joined the executive committee of the far-right nationalist Ligue des Patriotes. He was soon elected as a Member of Parliament of the French Parliament for Paris's 19th arrondissement in October 1889. In January 1890, he left the league, which resulted in him being booed and beaten by his constituents, to which he promised to resign. However, he joined the Republican majority government soon after. In 1893 he was elected to the Superior Council of the Colonies as a delegate of Nossi Bé, where he advocated to the council for the establishment of a French protectorate over Madagascar.