The author, Marc Serge Rivière, born in Souillac, was Laureate of the Royal College of Curepipe in 1965 on the Arts side. He completed an M.A. at Aberdeen University (Scotland, 1970), a postgraduate M.A. at McMaster University (Canada, 1971), a PhD at Glasgow University (Scotland, 1980) and a Dip.ed. at Monash University (Australia, 1982). From 1970 to 2008, he lectured on French and Francophone Literature and Cultural Studies in Scotland, Canada, Australia, France, Ireland and Mauritius (as Visiting Professor at UoM from 2003-2005). On his retirement in 2008, he was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Limerick University, Ireland. He was decorated by the French Government as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2005. ). He now resides in Mauritius and lectures at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute and the Mauritius Institute of Education.
As an Academic, Professor Rivière has published 35 books in French and English and over 70 refereed articles in international journals on: Voltaire and the 18th century; Australian, German and Irish History; Travel Literature; Mauritian History and Francophone Literature, and the writings and biographies of great men. His latest works include: History of Electricity in Mauritius, 1880-2015 (CEB, 2015); No Man is an Island: The Irish Presence in Isle de France/Mauritius (1975-2007) (E.O.I., 2008) and Les Codes Noirs (on slavery – Osman Publishing, 2009 and 2013 He is on the Board of Le Bocage International School and a member of the Committee of the English Speaking Union. He was Chief Editor of the Report of the truth and Justice Commission (2011) and of the Centenary Magazine of the Royal College Curepipe (January 2014).
Teaching: As a teacher of English, Business English and Business French, Professor Rivière has 45 years of experience. He has taught Language and Culture on five continents, namely in Mauritius (since 2008), Canada (1970-1971), Scotland (1973-1980), Australia (1980-1996), Ireland (1996-2008) and in France as part of the Erasmus Exchange Programme. Professor Rivière is registered with the MQA for English and French (up to NQF level 9) and he has given courses in ABE, Business English, Report Writing in English, Minutes Writing in English, English form the Hotel and Hospitality Industry, French for Business and General French. He uses innovative methods in Language Teaching and has devised and delivered corporate courses to MCB, BOI, FAIL, ABAX, Elite Business School, among other companies and organizations, since returning to Mauritius in 2008.
