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Félix Houphouët-Boigny | |
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1st President of Côte d'Ivoire | |
In office November 3, 1960 – December 7, 1993 | |
Preceded by | None (position first established) |
Succeeded by | Henri Konan Bédié |
Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire | |
In office 7 August 1960 – 27 November 1960 | |
Preceded by | None (position first established) |
Succeeded by | None (position abolished) |
Personal details | |
Born | (1905-10-18)October 18, 1905 N'Gokro, Côte d'Ivoire |
Died | December 7, 1993(1993-12-07) (aged 88) Yamoussoukro |
Political party | Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire |
Spouse | Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny |
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Born Dia Houphouët on October 18, 1905, died December 7, 1993), also known as The Sage, Nanan Boigny and Nanan Houphouët, is the father of Côte d'Ivoirian independence.
Orignally a village chief, Félix Houphouët-Boigny became in succession a doctor, the administrator of a plantation, a union leader, the Ivorian député in France, a French government minister, the President of the Côte d'Ivoirian National Assembly, the mayor of Abidjan, the Ivorian Prime Minister and finally the first President of Côte d'Ivoire. Serving as head of state from 1960, Houphouët-Boigny played a highly important role in the process of African decolonisation and dominated the political scene of his birth country until his death in 1993.
A proponent of françafrique - the policy of close cooperation with France - he succeeded in developing Côte d'Ivoire's economy, in particular its agricultural sector, making his country an oasis of prosperity in a continent largely mired in poverty. This period of economic growth is referred to as the Ivorian miracle. However, the prosperity won through the exportation of cocoa and coffee was shattered in the 1980s by a dramatic fall in raw goods prices. His dictatorial regime, generally moderate but undermined by rampant corruption, became more and more unbearable to a population hit hard by the economic crisis, whose effects are still being felt in Côte d'Ivoire today.
Cooperation with France was not limited to the economic sphere. Houphouët-Boigny's regime collaborated with the former colonial master's secret services to practise a controversial style of African politics typified by unconditional and mutual solidarity between the two countries in whatever new "adventures" they involved themselves in. As France's man in Africa, he carved out for himself a special place on the African scene, especially amongst the region's francophone countries and in the Gulf of Guinea, where he held great influence.