Call Me Madame
p. 21 · Read in the full issue
The French Consul-General in Sydney recently sent a passport to a New Guinea woman who is possibly the first New Guinean to receive French nationality.
The woman ( pictured) is Mrs. John H. Huon de Navrancourt, of Wau, whose husband (also pictured) claims to be a distant relative of Captain Huon de Kermadec, the French explorer after whom Huon Gulf (on which Lae is situated) was named.
Mr. and Mrs. Huon were married early this year.
Mrs. Huon, a nursing assistant, was formerly Miss Aroro Sakail, of the Sekal tribe, New Britain.
Through her marriage, she automatically gained French nationality.
Mr. Huon has lived in New Guinea since 1952.
He worked as a lay missionary until joining the Public Health Department in 1956.
In a note to PIM, Mr. Huon says he “enjoys the privilege of double nationality, French and British”.
He adds that the arrival of his wife’s French passport should be a lesson for the Australian Administra tion which imposes so much red tape to the naturalisation of even mixed-blood persons from the Territory.”