The President of the Republic, Mr Wavel Ramkalawan and Vice-President Ahmed Afif was presented first copies of book entitled, “A History of Seychelles from its origins to Present Day”, during a special ceremony held at State House, this morning. The commemorative book has been published on the occasion of the 250th Anniversary of the First Settlement in Seychelles celebrated last year.
The President, thanked all those that have helped in one way or another for the successful publication of this book. He noted that the publication will now form part of the official records about the history of Seychelles whereby generations to come will be able to know where the first settlement started and how the history of the nation unfolded.
In her address during the ceremony, the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Mrs Sherin Francis whom also chaired the national preparatory committee to spearhead the planning and organisation of the 250 years celebrations last year, remarked that the book is an episodic account of the nation’s history that spans its prehistory – 3500 years before settlement – to the outcome of last year’s elections.
“As such, it details the milestones in our evolution as a nation, cataloguing along the way the many challenges we have faced, and overcome. Perhaps, it is a timely reminder to us that although today we face a major challenge in the form of Covid-19, we have faced and overcome such challenges before and we should take courage in that,” said Mrs Francis.
Mrs Francis noted that the book also represents a sound body of historical facts for researchers, universities, schools and history enthusiasts the world over and, as such, promises to enjoy great longevity. In addition could be used as an important tool in the marketing of Seychelles abroad.
“This new history book fills in gaps in our history and contains never-before-seen documents, maps and records that have been beautifully reproduced to accompany the text and together I believe this will ensure that our history has now been laid down in a way that will fascinate present and future generations of Seychellois and foreigners alike”, she said.
During the ceremony, the Editor-in-Chief Mr Glynn Burridge retraced the journey and highlighted the intensity of the work that was required of the team to conceptualize the book project but however expressed how incredibly proud they are of the final end product they managed to produce.
At the end of the ceremony, President Ramkalawan had the honour of autographing the books of the authors and production team members present, as a souvenir of the book launch held at State House.
Also present at State House was the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly who is also one of the authors; Honourable Bernard Georges, Ambassador for the Order of Malta to Seychelles, whom did the art work for the cover of the book, Mrs Alexandra Azais, Illustrator, Ms Frances Chang-Him, members of the national preparatory committee, authors and the production team of the Tourism Department, and other distinguished guests.
Editor’s Note: