Henri Lopes

{{Short description|Congolese writer, diplomat, and politician (1937–2023)}}

{{similar names|Henry Lopes (disambiguation){{!}}Henry Lopes}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Henri Lopes

|image = Henri Lopes.jpg

|image_size = 232

|caption = Lopes in 2012

|office = Ambassador of the Republic of the Congo to France

|president = Denis Sassou-Nguesso

|term_start = 26 October 1998

|term_end = 12 July 2016

|successor = Rodolphe Adada

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|9|12|df=y}}

|birth_place = Léopoldville, Belgian Congo
(now Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo)

|death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|11|2|1937|9|12|df=y}}

|death_place = Suresnes, France

|party = Congolese Party of Labour

|alma_mater = Sorbonne

}}

Henri Lopes (12 September 1937 – 2 November 2023) was a Congolese writer, diplomat, and politician. He was Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from 1973 to 1975, and served as Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to France from 1998 to 2016.

Early life and education

Lopes was born across the Congo River in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), the capital of the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), on 12 September 1937.{{cite news |title=Décès à Paris de l’écrivain panafricaniste et homme politique Henri Lopes |url=https://acp.cd/culture/deces-a-paris-de-lecrivain-panafricaniste-et-homme-politique-henri-lopes/ |access-date=5 November 2023 |agency={{ill|Congolese Press Agency|fr|Agence congolaise de presse}} |date=4 November 2023 |language=fr-FR}}International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004, Europa Publications, p. 339. He received his primary education in Brazzaville and Bangui in Central African Republic, then went to France in 1949 for his secondary and higher education. While there, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Black African Students and was President of the Association of Congolese Students from 1957 to 1965. Returning to Congo in 1965, he was a history professor at the École normale supérieure d'Afrique Centrale in Brazzaville from 1965 to 1966, then Director-General of Education from 1966 to 1968.[http://www.presse-francophone.org/uijplf/uijplf_brazlitt%E9.htm "Henri Lopes, écrivain diplomate"]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, presse-francophone.org {{in lang|fr}}.

Political and diplomatic career

Under President Marien Ngouabi, Lopes became Minister of National Education in January 1969Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique (1997), Karthala Editions, p. 150 {{in lang|fr}}. until becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 1971.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo, p. 194 {{in lang|fr}}. He was included on the five-member Political Bureau of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in December 1972."Mar 1973 − New Draft Constitution − Government Reorganization − Suppression of Alleged Plot", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 19, March 1973, Congo, p. 25,776. Subsequently, he was Prime Minister from 1973 to 1975.Congo Brazzaville: Les hommes de pouvoir, number 1, Africa Intelligence, 29 October 2002 {{in lang|fr}}. He visited China in early 1975, but could not meet with Chairman Mao Zedong because Mao was ill.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C13FA3D5F14738DDDAC0994DB405B858BF1D3 "Mao's failure to receive visitors is laid to a cold"], Reuters, 15 March 1975. Lopes and his government resigned following a meeting of the PCT Central Committee in December 1975, and Louis Sylvain Goma was appointed to replace him."Jan 1976 − New Government − Former Prime Minister's Visits to China and France − President's Visit to Soviet Union − internal Developments", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 22, January 1976, Congo, p. 27,556.

After working as political director of the party newspaper Etumba from 1975 to 1977,{{cite web |last1=Bishop |first1=Cecile |title=The Aesthetics of Tyranny: African Dictatorships and the Work of Criticism |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/55214013/2012_Bishop_Cecile_0328681_ethesis.pdf |publisher=King's College London |pages=43 |date=January 2012}} Lopes was reappointed to the government as minister of finance on 5 April 1977;Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo, p. 241 {{in lang|fr}}. he served in that position until Justin Lekoundzou was appointed to replace him in December 1980.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo, p. 274 {{in lang|fr}}. Subsequently, he worked at UNESCO as Assistant Director-General for Culture and Deputy Director-General for Africa from 1981 to 1998.

On 26 October 1998, Lopes presented his credentials as Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to France;[http://www.droit.org/jo/1998/16335.html "Remise de lettres de créance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726004422/http://www.droit.org/jo/1998/16335.html |date=26 July 2011 }}, Official Journal of the French Republic, Number 251, 29 October 1998 {{in lang|fr}}. while posted in Paris, he was additionally accredited as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Vatican City.

In 2002, Lopes was a candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the international organization La Francophonie, but he withdrew his candidacy under pressure on the night before the vote, which was held on 20 October 2002 and resulted in the unanimous election of Senegal's Abdou Diouf.[http://www.afrik.com/article5147.html "Abdou Diouf, premier francophone"], Afrik.com, 20 October 2002 {{in lang|fr}}.

In mid-2015, it was reported that Lopes planned to retire from his post as Ambassador to France, which he did later that year.[http://www.jeuneafrique.com/255785/politique/congo-brazzaville-henri-lopes-quitte-poste-dambassadeur-france/ "Congo-Brazzaville : Henri Lopes quitte son poste d’ambassadeur en France"], Jeune Afrique, 10 August 2015 {{in lang|fr}}.

As a writer

In addition to his political and diplomatic career, Lopes was an author. His most recognised work is the satirical novel {{ill|Le Pleurer-rire|fr}} ("The Laughing Cry", 1982). Other works include the short-story collection {{ill|Tribaliques|fr}} ("Tribaliks," 1971), as well as the novels {{ill|La Nouvelle romance|fr}} (1975) and {{ill|Sans tam-tam|fr}} (1977). His last novel, Le Méridional (2015), was praised as "a fine portrayal of the life of an African long residing in France, narrated by a writer whose life bears some resemblances to Lopes's own".Adele King, [http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2015/november/le-meridional-henri-lopes "Le Méridional by Henri Lopes" (review)], World Literature Today, November 2015.

Tribaliques received the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1972,{{cite journal |date=December 1978 |title=Biografski dodaci |trans-title=Biographic appendices |url=http://dhk.hr/casopis-republika/ |language=sh |journal=Republika: Časopis za kulturu i društvena pitanja (Izbor iz novije afričke književnosti) |volume=XXXIV |issue=12 |pages=1424–1427 |place=Zagreb, SR Croatia }} and in 1993 Lopes received the Grand prix de la francophonie of the Académie française for his entire body of work.{{cite web |title=Prix de l’Académie: Henri LOPES |url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/henri-lopes |website=Académie française |access-date=5 November 2023}}

In November 2015, he delivered the keynote address at the 22nd International African Writers' Day Conference, organized by the Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA) on the theme "Celebrating the life and works of Chinua Achebe; the coming of age of African Literature?", in Accra, Ghana.Edmund Smith-Asante, [https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/writers-must-interact-with-students-prez-mahama.html "Writers must interact with students — Prez Mahama"], Graphic Online, 9 November 2015. During the conference Lopes received the award of Honorary Membership of PAWA, alongside other honorees who included the late Kwame Nkrumah, Emeritus Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, Dr Margaret Busby, James Currey, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee and others.Evelyn Osagie, [http://thenationonlineng.net/echoes-of-achebes-works-at-writers-show/ "Echoes of Achebe's works at writers’ show"], The Nation (Nigeria), 25 November 2015.

Lopes also wrote the words to "Les Trois Glorieuses", which served as the national anthem of the People's Republic of the Congo from 1970 to 1991.{{cite web |title=Hommage à Philippe Mockouamy, le plus grand chef de la fanfare congolaise |url=https://www.journaldebrazza.com/hommage-philippe-mockouamy-plus-grand-chef-fanfare/ |website=Journal de Brazza |access-date=6 November 2023 |date=27 December 2017}}

Mr. Lopes published his memoir in 2018, “Il est déjà demain” (“It is Already Tomorrow”).{{Cite news |last=Paquette |first=Danielle |title=Henri Lopès, African writer and former Congo prime minister, dies at 86 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/12/02/henri-lopes-africa-writer-dies/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2023-12-02 |access-date=2025-05-13}}

Death

Henri Lopes died in Suresnes, France, on 2 November 2023, at the age of 86.

Selected bibliography

Il est déjà demain (Paris: JC Lattès, 2018, {{ISBN|9782709660624}})
Le Méridional (Éditions Gallimard, 2015, {{ISBN|978-2070148271}})
Une enfant de Poto-Poto (Éditions Gallimard, 2012, {{ISBN|978-2070136087}})
Ma grand-mère bantoue et mes ancêtres les Gaulois. Simples discours (Paris: Éditions Gallimard, {{ISBN|978-2070715879}})
Le Lys et le Flamboyant (Paris: Seuil, 1997, {{ISBN|978-2020200967}})
Le chercheur d’Afriques (Paris: Seuil, 1990, {{ISBN|978-2020849609}})
Le Pleurer-rire (Présence Africaine, 1982, {{ISBN|978-2708704046}})
:Translated into English by G. Moore as The Laughing Cry: An African Cock and Bull Story (Readers International, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0930523336}})
Sans tam-tam (Éditions CLE, 1977, {{ISBN|978-2723500135}})
La Nouvelle romance (Yaoundé: CLE, 1975, {{ISBN|978-2723604727}})
Tribaliques (Yaoundé: CLE, 1971, {{ISBN|9782266012850}})
:Translated into English as Tribaliks: Contemporary Congolese Stories (Heinemann African Writers Series, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0435907624}})

Selected awards

1972: Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire for Tribaliques
1992: Grand prix de la francophonie
2002: Honorary doctorates from University of Paris XII and the Université Laval{{cite web |title=Henri Lopès {{!}} Doctorats honoris causa |url=https://www.ulaval.ca/notre-universite/prix-et-distinctions/doctorats-honoris-causa/henri-lopes |website=www.ulaval.ca |publisher=Université Laval |access-date=5 November 2023}}
2013: Honorary doctorate from University of Sonfoniah, Guinea[http://en.starafrica.com/news/guinea-university-awards-honorary-doctorate-to-congos-henri-lopes.html "Guinea university awards honorary doctorate to Congo's Henri Lopes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115716/http://en.starafrica.com/news/guinea-university-awards-honorary-doctorate-to-congos-henri-lopes.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, StarAfrica, 25 April 2013.
2015: Officer of the Légion d'Honneur[http://legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000030440152&dateTexte=&oldAction=dernierJO&categorieLien=id "Décret du 3 avril 2015 portant promotion et nomination"], Légifrance {{in lang|fr}}.

References

External links

Lydie Moudileno, [https://genesis.revues.org/609?lang=en "Henri Lopes – 'La critique n'est pas une agression'" (interview)], Genesis, 33, 2011, 93–100.
Olivia Marsaud, [http://afriquemagazine.com/en/%E2%80%98what-i-have-learned%E2%80%99-henri-lopes "‘What I have learned’ from Henri Lopes"], Afrique Magazine, May 2015.

{{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville|years=1973–75}}

Category:1937 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:People from Kinshasa

Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of the Congo to France

Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of the Congo to the Holy See

Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of the Congo to Portugal

Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of the Congo to Spain

Category:Ambassadors of the Republic of the Congo to the United Kingdom

Category:Congolese Party of Labour politicians

Category:Prime ministers of the Republic of the Congo

Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of the Republic of the Congo