Arts & Culture

Ferdinand Léopold Oyono

Cameroonian statesman, actor, and writer
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Print
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Oyono, Ferdinand Léopold
Oyono, Ferdinand Léopold
Born:
September 14, 1929, Ngoulemakong, Cameroon
Died:
June 10, 2010, Yaoundé (aged 80)

Ferdinand Léopold Oyono (born September 14, 1929, Ngoulemakong, Cameroon—died June 10, 2010, Yaoundé) African statesman, actor, and comic writer whose two best-known works—Une Vie de boy (1956; Houseboy) and Le Vieux Nègre et la médaille (1956; The Old Man and the Medal), written while he was studying law and administration in Paris—reflect the growing sentiment of anticolonialism of the 1950s.

During the 1950s, while writing his first two books, Oyono worked in Paris as an actor on stage and on television. In 1960, however, he returned to Cameroon and entered the diplomatic corps, becoming special envoy in 1961–62 to Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Morocco. Between 1963 to 1975 he was ambassador to Liberia, the Benelux countries, the European Common Market, France, Italy, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. He then served the United Nations (UN) as chairman of the Security Council, of the UNICEF Board, of the Security Council’s Political Committee, and of the Council on Namibia. After serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom (1984–85), Oyono returned to Cameroon to take various posts in the cabinet.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood
Britannica Quiz
Pop Culture Quiz

Oyono’s first book, Houseboy, is written in the form of a diary. It depicts honestly but with humour the often brutal life of a houseboy in the service of a French commandant. The Old Man and the Medal satirizes colonialism through the eyes of a God-fearing and loyal old villager who completely reverses his opinion of the white man on the same day that he is to receive a medal for his “service” (sacrifices of his sons and land) to France. In both novels Oyono’s indictment of paternalistic missionaries and administrators is clear. He perfected an ironic tone that conveys the full tragedy and pain of the lives of the common people, usually illiterate peasant farmers, who naively accept the doctrines of French colonialism. In mocking the foibles of the self-deluded colonial masters as well as the simple villagers, Oyono often painted hilarious portraits, putting his early experience as an actor in theatrical farce to good use. A third novel, Chemin d’Europe (1960; “The Road from Europe”), tackles the somewhat different problem of a young man who is better educated than his peers but still lacks the skills needed to assure him of success.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.