Photo : Christian Lambiotte / European Communities, 2004, CC BY 4.0
Ferdinand Oyono
The novelist who held colonial rule up to ridicule
Born in 1929 · Died in 2010
Who are they?
A writer and diplomat born in 1929 near Ebolowa, in southern Cameroon. After secondary school in Yaoundé and higher education in Paris, he had a long career as an ambassador and government minister.
What made them famous
In 1956 he published "Une vie de boy" and "Le Vieux NĂšgre et la MĂ©daille", two novels that expose the colonial administration and the missions with biting irony. Together with "Chemin d'Europe" (1960), this short body of work ranks among the classics of 20th-century African literature.
Key facts
- "Une vie de boy" was published in English in 1966 as "Houseboy".
- Minister of External Relations from 1992 to 1997, then Minister of State for Culture.
- He chaired the UNICEF Executive Board in 1977â1978.
- He died in Yaoundé on 10 June 2010, during a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.