Ferdinand Oyono

Ferdinand Léopold Oyono (born 14 September 1929 [http://web.archive.org/web/20051230121255/www.spm.gov.cm/showgouv.php?module=showindividu&lang=en&pers=183 Profile at government website] .] ) is an author from Cameroon whose work is recognized for irony that shows how easily people can be fooled. He had a long career of service as a diplomat and as a minister in the government.

Oyono was born in Ebolowa in the South Province of Cameroon. After obtaining his high school diploma in Yaoundé, Oyono studied in Paris. Following Cameroon's independence, Oyono was a member of the Cameroonian delegation to the United Nations in 1960, when the country was admitted to the UN. Oyono served as Cameroon's ambassador to various countries from 1965 to 1974. He became ambassador to Liberia in 1965, then served as ambassador to the Benelux countries and the European Communities from 1965 to 1968 and as ambassador to France, with additional responsibilities for Spain, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, from 1969 to 1974. From 1974 to 1982 he was Cameroon's Permanent Representative to the United Nations; he acted as President of the United Nations Security Council in place of the United Kingdom's Ivor Richard at the 1,866th meeting of the Security Council on December 16 1975. [ [http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scpres1970.htm "Presidents of the Security Council : 1970-1979"] , UN.org.] From 1982 to 1985 he again served as ambassador to various countries: first as ambassador to Algeria and Libya, then as ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries.

From 1985 to 1986, he was Secretary-General of the Presidency of Cameroon; he then served as Minister of Town Planning and Housing from 1986 to 1990. In November 1992 he became Minister of External Relations, serving in that position until he was named Minister of State for Culture on December 8 1997. He served in the latter position for nearly ten years, until he was replaced in a cabinet reshuffle on September 7 2007. [ [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=41343 "Cameroonian leader reshuffles his cabinet"] , African Press Agency, September 7, 2007.] [ [http://www.cameroon-info.net/cmi_show_news.php?id=20388 "Remaniement: La Vidéo"] , cameroon-info.net, September 7, 2007 fr icon.] [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=PAN70027leprstnemen0 "Le président Biya évince deux partis du gouvernement"] , Panapress (Jeuneafrique.com), September 9, 2007 fr icon.] Oyono is thought to be a close friend of President Paul Biya, and his departure from the government was considered by observers to be a result of his advanced age and poor health. [Kini Nsom and Nformi Sonde Kinsai, [http://allafrica.com/stories/200709131084.html?page=2 "Cameroon: Despite Cabinet Reshuffle Northerners Still Gun for Inoni's Job"] , "The Post", Buea (allAfrica.com), September 13, 2007.]

Oyono was a member of the National Commission for the coordination of Biya's election campaign in the October 2004 presidential election and was the president of the campaign's support and follow-up committee in the South Province. [ [http://www.presidentielle2004.gov.cm/detail_art.php?id_art=79&lang=en "President Paul Biya selects campaign team"] , 2004 presidential election website.]

Oyono's novels were written in French in the late 1950s and were only translated into English a decade or two afterward.

Among his works are:
*"Une vie de boy" (1956; translated as "Houseboy" in 1966), a diary-form novel that criticized the morality of colonialism
*"Le Vieux Nègre et la médaille" (1956; translated as "The Old Man and the Medal" in 1969)
*"Chemin d'Europe" (1960; translated as "Road to Europe" in 1989)

References