Le Crépuscule des hommes

The character of Morel, however invented, was not pure fantasy: on 16 January 1959, a man named Raphaël Matta was found murdered in West Africa. “He had lived since 1954 in a reserve in the Ivory Coast and had devoted himself to protecting nature. He wanted to put an end to the mass slaughter of wild animals and the destruction of nature reserves.” A book was immediately devoted to him; its author, Jacques Guillaume, asked Gary to write the preface. Gary agreed — the first time he consented to such an exercise. His preface was scathing: “Raphaël Matta gave the best of himself to save the best in man: his love for others. Naturally, he was killed. This will surprise no one. In our age, no one is surprised when a man is killed; one is only surprised that he was not tortured first.” Gary returned to the subject in a long article in Paris-Match (no. 578, 7 May 1960, pp. 115–130): “Matta gave his life for the elephants, I believe that.” In a letter to André Malraux dated May 1954, Gary had considered a more explicit title: L’affaire Morel, l’homme qui défendait les éléphants rogues (letter preserved at the Bibliothèque Doucet, fonds André Malraux).