Born: 1 November 1874, Comoros
Died: 7 August 1964
Country most active: Comoros
Also known as: Salima Machamba bint Saidi Hamadi Makadara
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Salima Machamba was born in Fomboni (one of the islands of the Comoros archipelago, off the coast of East Africa) in 1874. She was the Sultan of Mohéli (Mwali) from 1888 to 1909. Her full name was Salima Machamba bint Saidi Hamadi Makadara, and she had a family connection to Ranavalona I, the Queen of Madagascar.
Salima Machamba was the daughter of Jumbe Fatima bint Abderremane, who served as the Queen (Sultan) of Mohéli (Mwali), and Emile Fleuriot de Langle (1837–1881), a great-grandson of Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle. Despite being born out of wedlock, she officially carried the name of her mother’s husband and was recognized as Salima Machamba bint Saidi Hamadi Makadara.
Chosen as the puppet queen of Mohéli by the French when they made Comoros a French protectorate, Salima Machamba’s life took a turn when she married Camille Paule, a French gendarme, on August 28, 1901, in Saint-Denis, Réunion. However, in 1909, the French government deposed her, and Comoros became part of France.
Salima Machamba and her family were then deported to France, where she gave birth to three children. The French government provided her with a yearly allowance of 3,000 gold Francs. She lived a simple life as a farmer in Haute-Saône and passed away on August 7, 1964, in Pesmes. She was laid to rest at L’église Saint-Hilaire, Pesmes, on August 10, 1964.
Her granddaughter, Anne Etter, now represents the royal family of Mohéli in Comoros and serves as the president of the Association Développement des Iles Comores.