Jean Verdi Salomon Razakandraina (1913–1978), commonly known as Dox, was a Malagasy writer and poet considered one of the most important literary figures in the country's history. He is principally renowned for his poetry and plays, but was also a painter, wrote and performed musical compositions, and translated several major French and English language works into Malagasy. His works have formed part of the language arts curriculum in Madagascar at every grade level since the country regained independence in 1960.
Dox began writing in 1930 while studying at a fine arts school in Antananarivo, where fellow students gave him the nickname "Dox". In 1932, after briefly conceding to his father's wish that he study medicine, Dox dedicated himself fully to the arts and joined with other notable Malagasy poets in advancing the Mitady ny very movement ("search for lost values"), launched by Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Charles Rajoelisolo and Ny Avana Ramanantoanina. His work during this period reflected the movement's aim to reaffirm the value of Malagasy identity, which had been eroded under the influence of the French colonial administration. In 1941, he printed his first collection of poems, Ny Hirako, which was written in the Malagasy language. When a major nationalist uprising erupted in 1947, Dox rallied behind the Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache and suffered a gunshot wound during a protest. He also actively took part in the student protests of 1972 that brought down the Tsiranana administration. In 1971 he published his only compilation of French language poems, Chants Capricorniens. Over the span of his career, he produced nine poem anthologies, numerous books in prose, and sixteen plays featuring folk tales, Biblical stories or Malagasy historical themes, in addition to countless privately commissioned works.
Throughout his life, Dox enjoyed strong popular support for his work, which combined elements of romanticism and the sensibilities of traditional Malagasy poetry and proverbs. He established himself as a leader in the promotion of Malagasy literary arts, co-founding the Union of Malagasy Poets and Writers and Tsiry, an association dedicated to publishing the works of creative Malagasy youth. Dox also served as President of the Committee of United Malagasy Artists, Vice President of the Andrianampoinimerina Academy, and a member of the Académie Malgache. He died in Antananarivo on 14 June 1978.
Biography
Childhood
Jean Verdi Salomon Razakandraina was born on 13 January 1913 in Manankavaly, Madagascar, to an observant Christian family of the noble class. His father, Samuel Salomon, was a medical doctor and frequently traveled to care for patients. His mother, Raolina, moved to the nearby town of Antsirabe with young Jean Verdi, who was often ill as a child. There she entrusted his education to her father, a farmer and schoolteacher, who provided his elementary education, taught him Malagasy proverbs and stories, introduced him to Christianity, and taught him to paint and play music. Razakandrainy's grandfather taught him the history of their royal family line and the people of the Anjanapara valley in southern Imerina. This education instilled in the child a traditional love of the land, respect for ancestral traditions and appreciation for the beauty of the Malagasy countryside.
In 1930 he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Antananarivo. The following year he transferred to the illustrious Paul Minault middle school, a private Protestant institution that had earned a reputation as a center for intellectual and creative excellence, partly because the school featured well-known thought leaders like nationalist poet Pastor Ravelojaona among their teaching staff. Its reputation also derived from its innovative teaching methods, based on individual reading and research, followed by debates guided by the teacher. This focus on reading allowed Razakandraina to discover a range of French novelists, among whom his favorites were Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, Charles Baudelaire, and Albert Samain. While enrolled at Paul Minault, Razakandraina was given two nicknames: Sorajavona ("colors of the clouds", an acronym formed from the initials of his name), and later Dox, from both the English "ox", and from "paradox".