ABSTRACT
Seychelles possessed no institution of higher education until well after independence. The colony's small stock of Seychellois lawyers, doctors, clergy and technical professionals were entirely trained abroad, their services augmented by expatriate personnel recruited or posted to the colony for varying periods of time. Price told Souyave that his then young son France-Albert would like to be a lawyer. Souyave then had a talk with France-Albert in the child's bedroom and apparently told him such an ambition was unrealistic. The discussion may have had consequences for some of René's later career decisions. The seminary René entered was that of the Capuchins at St Maurice in francophone Canton Valais in the west of the country. It was the oldest continuous monastery in Europe, dating from the seventh century, and had a prestigious secondary school attached. Numerous other postcolonial leaders in Africa and the Pacific have begun their careers with some form of church vocation, including priesthood.
