Ferdinand Guy Jocelyn (1945, Martinique), better known as Tanit, is an iconic figure of Ibiza who is difficult to label. She has been a hippie, a waitress, a dancer, a public relations manager, a party organizer, and above all, a free spirit – the personification of the essence of 1970s Ibiza. She spent her final days fighting terminal lung cancer, but she faced death with strength, dignity, and extraordinary fortitude. Tanit has been one of Ibiza’s most charismatic and well-known figures since the 1970s. She was a symbol of the hippie movement, and her unique personality captivated both residents and tourists with her originality, her outgoing nature, her ever-present smile, and her dancing, in which she emulated the Apache Indians.
The grandson of an Apache Native American, with a French father, Ferdinand Guy Jocelyn, and a Vietnamese mother, Tagus, descended from a noble and landowning family from the island of Martinique. He was born on a ship at sea, and that’s why he has never understood borders, but humanity. He arrived in Ibiza in search of freedom and a nomadic life. “Ibiza has given me everything: freedom, feathers, dreadlocks; it has reconnected me with my roots and allowed me to live as I have wanted. The goddess Tanit baptized me with her name. My father is the Sun and my mother is the Moon, and I am a free and wandering star that travels the firmament.”
Receiving the ‘La Llave de Ibiza’ award – in recognition of an iconic and unique figure – filled him with pride and personal satisfaction during the final days of his enviable and eventful life. After receiving this award, surrounded by his lifelong friends, who paid him a magnificent tribute with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes at Club Diario, I interviewed Tanit live for the last time there; he was visibly ill and weakened by terminal cancer. His last, faltering words were about Ibiza, the island that gave him back his freedom, roots, and the pride of being able to live with friendship as a guiding principle: “I know my time has come and I am ready for it, but it saddens me to see the Ibiza he left behind, where only money matters.”
Tanit’s athletic physique has also been highly praised in Ibiza, as has her tanned and toned body, sculpted by exercise. He was always on his bike, pedaling back and forth, and his skill at playing paddle games on the beach at Ses Salines was quite a sight. He would run backwards at a good pace along the seashore to keep his butt firm, he said, because the girls liked it.
His attire – which included a skirt, dreadlocks, and feathers, in the style of Bob Marley, his favorite musician – gave him an air of being a unique, original, extravagant, and highly envied figure. His beige suede outfits, inspired by Native American attire, lent him an unusual elegance for special occasions or television appearances; this greatly appealed to the women with whom he always enjoyed great success throughout his life.
Tanit was a big fan of the Jamaican singer’s music; he met him in Ibiza during his concert at the old Ibiza bullring in 1987. “His music was universal, pure; it knew no color or race,” he recounted, adding, “I gave him a good joint of cannabis so he could give a great concert; he gave me a pen, which I put between my dreadlocks, and I promised him I would keep it until the day I die.” And that is exactly what he did.
The death of Tanit, the last true hippie of Ibiza, has caused great sadness and shock among her friends and followers around the world. Her life leaves a legacy and a mark that highlight the importance of friendship, her values, and the memories of that hippie golden age in Ibiza.
