Albert Tévoédjrè
Albert Tévoédjrè | |
---|---|
Information Minister of Dahomey | |
In office 30 December 1960 – 22 October 1963 | |
Preceded by | None (office established) |
Personal details | |
Born | Porto-Novo, Dahomey | 10 November 1929
Died | 6 November 2019 Porto-Novo, Benin | (aged 89)
Political party | Dahomeyan Unity Party |
Albert Tévoédjrè (10 November 1929 – 6 November 2019) was a Beninese writer and politician.[1] He was Information Minister of Dahomey (now Benin) from 1960 to 1963.
Early life
Tévoédjrè was educated at
Before Benin declared its independence, Tévoédjrè helped found the pro-independence organization Mouvement Africain de Libération Nationale and the Ligue pour la Promotion Africaine, as well as leading the Syndicat National des Ensignants du Dahomey. In February 1960, Tévoédjrè participated in a strike at the Technical College of Cotonou. The demonstrators requested to fire two professors who failed several students and had them expelled.[3]
Political career
In October 1960, Tévoédjrè applied for a government position. He received the job of administrative secretary of the Dahomeyan Unity Party (PDU). His first job was to announce that a group of people were to inform the uneducated about news from the government perspective. Those who were literate could read three government-sponsored newspapers: L'Aube Nouvelle, La Nation and La Depeche du Dahomey. Tévoédjrè had previously written columns for one of these, L'Aube Nouvelle.[3]
President Maga named the new ministers in his government on 30 December, and chose many leaders from the former RDD and PND. He also chose several relative newcomers, like
On 26 May Tévoédjrè notified Maga that Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin had plotted to assassinate the president but he and 11 other dissidents had been arrested. The trial date was set for December. It differed from many political trials in Africa being that it was held in public and the defence was allowed a lawyer from Paris. In any event, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin received five years for his role in the conspiracy, and the others were dealt from one- to ten-year sentences.[6] Maga ultimately released them in November 1962, saying in a broadcast[note 1] that it was not only due to their good behavior in jail but also to reconcile with his former enemies.[7]
Tévoédjrè convinced the Dahomeyan government to create an Agence Dahomennée de Presse to be led by him, and before the year was over he had access to the Agence France-Presse's wire services and a monopoly in Dahomeyan journalism. Another project of his was the construction of a museum to encompass all of Dahomey's art pieces. In July 1961, he was granted a 30-kilowatt transmitter, seven times more powerful than that owned by Radio Dahomey, by the Division of Information of the Company of Broadcasting of France of Overseas (SORAFOM). The Information Minister was named secretary-general of the African and Malagasy Union in November 1961.[5]
In the summer of 1963, Dahomey underwent much unrest over the death of deputy
In 1991, he was a presidential candidate and placed third with over 14% of the vote.
Tévoédjrè died on 6 November 2019 in Porto-Novo at the age of 89.[12]
Notes
- ^ It is unclear what type of broadcast this was.
References
- ISBN 9780810871717.
- ^ "SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CÔTE D'IVOIRE | UN Press". press.un.org. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ a b c Carter 1963, p. 206.
- ^ Carter 1963, p. 230.
- ^ a b Carter 1963, p. 207.
- ^ Matthews 1966, p. 146.
- ^ Matthews 1966, p. 147.
- ^ Keesing's Worldwide, LLC 1963, p. 19762.
- ^ Matthews 1966, p. 152.
- ^ Matthews, Ronald (10 April 1966), "Forecast for Africa: More Plots, More Coups", The New York Times, p. 182, retrieved 18 September 2008
- ^ Blum, Françoise (17 April 2019), "TÉVOÉDJRÉ Albert", Le Maitron (in French), Paris: Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier, retrieved 24 December 2023
- ^ "Bénin : Albert Tévoédjrè, figure intellectuelle et politique, est décédé". Jeune Afrique (in French). 6 November 2019.
Bibliography
- Carter, Gwendolen Margaret (1963), Five African States; Responses to Diversity: the Congo, Dahomey, the Cameroun Federal Republic, the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, South Africa, OCLC 413212.
- Keesing's Worldwide, LLC (November 1963), "Nov 1963 - Fall of President Maga's Regime. - Formation of Provisional Military Government", Keesing's Contemporary Archives, 9, OCLC 1644683.
- Matthews, Ronald (1966), African Powder Keg: Revolt and Dissent in Six Emergent Nations, OCLC 246401461.