CONAKRY: Guinea is asking France to return several skulls and the personal items of various historical figures who fought against colonization in the 19th century, the Ministry of Culture told AFP Thursday.
The restitution requests were submitted in mid-July and include the skull of Boubacar Biro Barry, the last leader of the Muslim theocratic state of Fouta-Djalon, located in modern-day Guinea.
Barry and three others — his son, brother and his war chief — were beheaded in 1896 following a battle against the French. Guinea is asking for all four skulls back.
It has also requested the return of manuscripts and other objects belonging to Samory Toure, a warrior-preacher who took up Islam, battling animizts and French colonial forces to establish an empire of his own.
Apart from manuscripts, Guinea is requesting Toure’s sabre, headdress, and boubou tunic, Amirou Conte, director of the Ministry of Culture’s National Museum of Conakry, told AFP.
“The Guinean state will take all necessary steps to secure the return” of Barry and his companions’ remains “so that they may rest with dignity in the land of their ancestors,” Guinean Minister of Culture Moussa Moise Sylla told AFP.
The requests follow passage in France in recent years of laws aimed at returning looted artefacts.
Skulls returned to Madagascar
In September 2025, France returned three skulls of victims of colonial-era atrocities in Madagascar. Among the remains, one is believed to have belonged to King Toera, who was beheaded by the French army during the 1897 Ambiky massacre.
In May France’s parliament definitively adopted legislation to simplify the return of artworks looted during the colonial era.
The legislation fulfils a promise made by President Emmanuel Macron in Ouagadougou in 2017 and is expected to better facilitate returns.
