Oyono, Ferdinand Léopold

Oyono, Ferdinand Léopold ōyōˈnō, ōˌyōnōˈ [key], 1929–2010, Cameroonian statesman and novelist writing in French. After studying in Africa and in Paris at the Law School and the National School of Administration, he joined the Cameroonian diplomatic corps, served in various African and European countries, and held a number of posts at the United Nations (1975–83). He was later (1984–85) ambassador to Great Britain and afterward returned home to serve in the government. Oyono was foreign minister (1992–97) and culture minister (1997–2007). While a student in Paris in 1956, he wrote two anticolonial novels, Une Vie de boy (tr. Houseboy, 1966) and Le Vieux Nègre et la médaille (tr. The Old Man and the Medal, 1967), that have been acclaimed for their satiric brilliance. He followed these in 1960 with Le Chemin d'Europe (tr. Road to Europe, 1989).

See study by R. Mercier and M. and S. Battestini (1964).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2026, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Miscellaneous French Literature: Biographies