Houphouët-Boigny

Félix Houphouët-Boigny · First President of Ivory Coast, from 1960 to 1993 (1905-1993) · 1905–1993

Appears in 6 videos · 6 passages, 2 of them in depth.

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani discusses Houphouët-Boigny from two angles. On the one hand, he repeatedly quotes his saying "a hungry man is not a free man"1, which he sets against those who reduce freedom to the right to vote2. On the other, he traces his political path: first affiliated with the communists, the first president of Côte d'Ivoire later became the Atlanticists' bulwark against Soviet penetration into Africa3. He also notes that Houphouët-Boigny was the first head of state to open a dialogue with the apartheid regime4. In his view, he was tied to the traditional chiefs and to the French, and he recalls that Sankara insulted him constantly5. More recently, commenting on relations between France and Africa, he states that his envelopes, handed out with France's agreement, undid the dream of a federal Africa6.

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Félix Houphouët-Boigny (French:; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("the old one"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first president of Ivory Coast, from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to the French Parliament in 1945. He served in several ministerial positions within the Government of France before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonisation of Africa. […]

Read the article on Wikipedia

Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: GPO, Public domain

Season 12 · 18 Feb 2024Secularism, the truth of religion?

1:00:49First president of Côte d'Ivoire, initially affiliated with the communists, who became the bulwark of the Atlanticists against Soviet penetration.