• July 22, 1804 in Paris; † December 25, 1893 in Houilles near Paris
• Grew up in Paris, frequented artistic circles there, inherited parents. china factory
• 1829-31: Business trip to Mexico, Cuba, southern USA, got to know slavery that still prevailed there
• 1830s: factory sold after business trip; engaged politically + journalistically for the abolition of slavery
• Became Member of the National Assembly for Martinique
• 1848: Initiator of the decree abolishing slavery result: total abolition of slavery in France and its colonies
• 1886: originally built in Pairs, named after the French. Politician Victor Schoelcher
• he left his extensive book collection to the Consulate General
• Parisian building was dismantled and shipped to Martinique
• Library opened in 1893, in the year of V. Schoelcher's death