Bio: (1925-1961) French philosopher and essayist. Franz Fanon was born in Martinique, then a French colony, and now a part of France, in the Caribbean Sea. After the Second World War, he moved to France, where he graduated in psychiatry, and later worked as a psychiatrist in hospitals in France, Algeria, and Tunisia. The experience of colonialism and French domination shaped his views, and he was also influenced by the philosophical works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Marx, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

In his book Black Skin, White Masks (1967, in French 1952), Fanon presents the consequences of French colonialization on the African population in Martinique. His approach contains an existentialist, psychological, and socio-economic analysis of colonial relations. Socio-economic inequalities and racist teachings about the backwardness of African culture have led to the development of low-value complexes among the black population of Martinique, but also to their need to "whitewash". Having been taught that black skin color indicates backwardness and that the Creole version of the French language is shameful, the African population of Martinique tended to wear "white masks". They suffered from insecurity, self-blame, and despair. To escape from such a psychological state, Africans aspired to adopt the French language and culture and to marry "white" women, in order to achieve a sense of self-worth.

In his book The Wretched of the Earth  (2004, in French 1961), Fanon presents a theory of liberation based on violent actions. Since colonization was introduced and carried out by force, liberation from the colonial chains can be achieved only by force. This tactic is also strategically effective, and at the same time provides a psychological sense of power. Instead of inferiority, despair, and passivity, the oppressed become fearless and their self-esteem returns. Freeing the mind from feelings of oppression leads to liberation from colonial rule. Only the poorest, those who have nothing to lose (wretched in the world) are the force that will achieve liberation.

Main works

Peau noire, masques blancs (1952);

L'an V de la révolution algérienne (1959);

Les Damnés de la Terre (1961);

Pour la révolution africaine: Écrits politiques (1964).

Works translated into English:

Black Skin, White Masks (2008, in French 1952);

A Dying Colonialism (1965, in French 1959);

The Wretched of the Earth (1963, in French 1961);

Toward the African Revolution (1969, in French 1964).