Laborde was shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar at the age of 26 and soon after was granted large tracts of land and unlimited labor to provide armaments for the Merina army.
However, there soon emerged rumors – believed by prominent foreigners Jean Laborde and William Ellis – that Radama lived and was making plans to reclaim the throne.
Jean-Paul Sartre | Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Jean Cocteau | Jean Genet | Jean-Luc Godard | Wyclef Jean | Jean Racine | Jean Chrétien | Jean Michel Jarre | Jean Paul Gaultier | Jean Nouvel | Jean-Michel Basquiat | Jean Giraud | Jean Sibelius | Jean-Luc Ponty | Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot | Jean-Claude Van Damme | Jean Renoir | Jean-Pierre Rampal | Jean-Léon Gérôme | Jean Harlow | Jean Anouilh | Billie Jean King | Jean Giraudoux | Jean-Bertrand Aristide | Jean Baudrillard | Jean-Pierre Thiollet | Jean-Martin Charcot | Jean Gabin | Jean de Florette |
Launched in July 1952 by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde in Bordeaux as the Jean Laborde, she was the last of four sister ships built for Messageries Maritimes.