Firmin Viry

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Firmin Viry worked as a sugar-cane cutter all his life between Saint-Pierre and Le Tampon. At 23, he made the instruments necessary for maloya, the bob, the roulèr, the kayamb, and the piker, thanks to Gustin Miza (a Mozambican).{{cite news |title=Ile de la Réunion. Firmin Viry. Maloya |url=https://www.radiofrance.com/les-editions/musique/ile-de-la-reunion-firmin-viry-maloya |work=Radio France Éditions |language=fr|access-date=2024-06-30}}

Close to the Réunion Communist Party at its foundation, Viry then proposed, according to Françoise Vergès, the first maloya sung and danced in public{{cite book |last1=Vergès |first1=Françoise |title=Monsters and Revolutionaries: Colonial Family Romance and Métissage |date=1999 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, NC (US) |isbn=978-0822322948}} in 1959, at the Rio cinema in Saint-Denis. Firmin Viry led another relentless fight for the abolition of the ban on Maloya. When President François Mitterrand assumed power, he quickly lifted the ban.{{r|Croisier}}

In October 2009, Firmin Viry canceled the invitation for Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, a French comedian, to appear at the 20 December {{lang|rcf|{{ill|Kabar (celebration)|fr|Kabaré (fête)|lt=kabar}}}} to celebrate {{ill|Réunion Freedom Day|fr|Fête réunionnaise de la liberté}},{{lang|fr|Journal de l'île de La Réunion}} newspaper, 16 October 2009; and {{lang|fr|{{ill|Le Quotidien de La Réunion|fr}}}} newspaper, 16 October 2009.{{fcn|date=December 2024}}{{fcn|date=December 2024}} during which Dieudonné was to present a preview of his film {{lang|fr|Sans forme de politesse: regard sur la mouvance Dieudonné}}. A Paris screening of the film had also been canceled after the mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, objected, following repeated complaints against the comedian that his shows and media comments displayed antisemitism.{{efn|The title of Dieudonné's film is, in English, 'without any form of politeness: a look at the Dieudonné movement'. During his show J'ai fait le con, Dieudonné had brought Robert Faurisson, a promoter of Holocaust denial, on stage to award him "the prize of unacceptability and insolence" presented by an assisting comedian who was dressed as a Jewish deportee, all in front of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his wife.{{cite news |title='Injures' antisémites: Dieudonné condamné à 10.000 euros d'amende |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/societe/20091027.OBS5971/injures-antisemites-dieudonne-condamne-a-10-000-euros-d-amende.html |work=Le Nouvel Obs |date=28 October 2009 |language=fr |trans-title=Anti-Semitic 'insults': Dieudonné fined 10,000 euros}}}} At the time Viry withdrew his invitation, penalties of a fine and compensation payable to community groups were imposed on Dieudonné for "public insult of people of Jewish origin or faith"; similar incidents occurred in 2004 and 2005 for which Dieudonné also had judgements against him in 2007 and 2008.{{cite news |title=Amende de 10.000? pour Dieudonné |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2009/10/27/01011-20091027FILWWW00452-dieudonne-condamne-a-10000-d-amende.php |work=Le Figaro |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=27 October 2009 |language=fr |trans-title=Fine of 10,000? for Dieudonné}}

• 1972: A nous même danser Maloya, Disques Jackman, 45 RPM.{{cite magazine |title=VIRY Firmin |magazine=Réunionnais du Monde |url=https://www.reunionnaisdumonde.com/magazine/1001-celebrites/viry-firmin/ |date=January 2014 |language=fr |access-date=2024-06-30}}
• 1976: Le maloya, Ediroi (PCR), 33 RPM.
• 1976: Peuple de la Réunion, peuple du maloya, Ediroi (PCR), 33 RPM. Participation of Firmin Viry with the troupe Résistance, the troupe Gaston Hoareau, and the troupe René Viry.{{Cite web|language=fr|first=Brigitte|last=Croisier|title=La longue marche du maloya|website=inforeunion: Un regard info politique - Ile de La Réunion - Océan Indien|date=2 October 2013|url=http://www.inforeunion.net/La-longue-marche-du-maloya_a7484.html|access-date=2024-06-30}}
• 1977: Le Maloya de la Réunion, Disques Jackman, 45 RPM.
• 1983: Ti crie a moin anin / Dimanche grand matin, Disques Issa'', 45 RPM.
• 1989: Cent An Boner, SEDM Oasis Studio, Cassette.{{Discogs artist}}
• 1998: Ti Mardé, Indigo.
• 1999: Ile de la Réunion: maloya, Ocora.
• 2006: Memwar in pep, Best Maloya.
• 2017: Maloya, Ocora.

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Category:1935 births

Category:People from Saint-Pierre, Réunion