Félix Houphouët-Boigny

"Houphouët-Boigny" redirects here. For other uses, see Houphouët-Boigny (disambiguation).

Félix Houphouët-Boigny
1st President of Côte d'Ivoire
In office 3 November, 1960 – 7 December 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)18 October 1905 Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
Died	7 December 1993(1993-12-07) (aged 88) Côte d'Ivoire
Political party	Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire
Spouse	Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny

Félix Houphouët-Boigny (IPA: [feliks ufwɛt bwaˈɲi]) (18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993) was the first President of Côte d'Ivoire. Originally a village chief, he worked as a doctor, an administrator of a plantation, and a union leader, before being elected to the French Parliament. He was also appointed minister in the French government several times between 1957 and 1961. He played a leading role in the decolonization of Africa and in his country's politics up until his death.

Under Houphouët-Boigny's politically moderate leadership, Côte d'Ivoire prospered economically due to a combination of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the West (particularly France), and development of the country's significant coffee and cocoa industries. This economic success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became known as the "Ivorian miracle". However, the exploitation of the agricultural sector caused difficulties in 1980, after a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and cocoa. Houphouët-Boigny moved the country's capital from Abidjan to his hometown of Yamoussoukro, and, despite the short recession, built the world's largest church there, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, at a cost of US$300 million. He also built a presidential palace at a similarly great cost.

Houphouët-Boigny maintained an ardently anticommunist foreign policy, which resulted in, among other things, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1969 (after first establishing relations in 1967), refusing to recognize the China until 1983, and providing assistance to UNITA, a United States-supported, anti-communist rebel movement in Angola. He considered the two major communist powers a malevolent influence in the Third World, and frequently denounced their actions, especially China's. Relations with the Soviet Union were not renewed until February 1986.

In the West, Houphouët-Boigny was commonly known as the "Sage of Africa" or the "Grand Old Man of Africa". At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving leader in Africa's history and the third longest-serving leader in the world's, after Fidel Castro of Cuba and Kim Il-sung of North Korea. In 1989, UNESCO created the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for the "safeguarding, maintaining and seeking of peace". After his death, conditions in Côte d'Ivoire quickly deteriorated. From 1994 until 2002, there were a number of coup d’états, a currency devaluation, an economic recession, and, beginning in 2002, a civil war.

Early life

Childhood and education

According to his official biography, Houphouët-Boigny was born on 18 October 1905, in Yamoussoukro. However, doubts remain about the accuracy of this date as the Baoulé do not maintain a birth register. It is highly probable that he was born was before 1905 and unofficial accounts place his birth date up to seven years earlier. Born into the Akouès, an animist tribe, he was the son of a Houphouët who gave him the first name Dia, meaning "prophet" or "magician". Dia Houphouët was the great-nephew of Queen Yamousso and the village chief, Kouassi N'Go. When N'Go was murdered in 1910, Dia was called on to succeed him as chief. Due to his young age, his stepfather Gbro Diby ruled as a regent (his father having already died).

Recognising his place in the hierarchy, the colonial administration decided to send Houphouët to school at the military post in Bonzi, not far from his village. In 1915, he was moved to the école primaire supérieure (secondary school) at Bingerville in spite of reluctance from his family. The same year, at Bingerville, he converted to Christianity, considering it a modern religion and an obstacle to the spread of Islam. He baptised himself Félix. A brilliant student, he was accepted into the École William Ponty in 1919, and earned there a teaching degree. In 1921, he attended the École de médecine de l'AOF (French West Africa School of Medicine) in Senegal, where he came first in his class in 1925 and qualified as a medical assistant. However, he never completed his studies in medicine and could only aspire to a career as a médecin africain, a poorly-paid doctor.

Medical career

On 26 October 1925, Houphouët began his career as a doctor's aide at a hospital in Abidjan, where he founded an association of indigenous medical personnel. This undertaking proved short-lived as the colonial administration viewed it unsympathetically, considering it a trade union. As a consequence, they decided to move Houphouët to a particularly insanitary hospital in Guiglo on 27 April 1927. After he proved his considerable talents, however, he was promoted on 17 September 1929 to a post in Abengourou until then reserved for Europeans. At Abengourou, Houphouët witnessed the exploitation of indigenous cocoa farmers by the colonists. Deciding to act, he led a movement of farmers hostile to the major white landowners and to the economic policies of the colonizers which favoured them in 1932. On 22 December, he published, under a pseudonym, an article titled On nous a trop volés (They have stolen too much from us), which appeared in the Trait d'union, an Ivorian socialist newspaper.

The following year, Houphouët was summoned by his tribe to assume the responsibilities of village chief, but preferring to pursue his medical career, he deferred in favour of his younger brother Augustin. However, wishing to live closer to his village, he obtained a transfer to Dimbokro on 3 February 1934 and then to Toumodi on 28 June 1936. While Houphouët had displayed professional qualities, his attitude had chafed those around him. As a result, in September 1938, his clinical director demanded that he choose between his job as a doctor and his involvement in local politics. The choice was quickly made for him: his brother died in 1939, and Houphouët became village chief.

Chef de canton and union leader

In becoming chef de canton, Houphouët assumed responsibility for the administration of Akouè, a canton which comprised 36 villages. He also took charge of the family plantation—at the time one of the most important in the country—and worked to diversify its rubber, cocoa and coffee crops. He soon became one of Africa's richest farmers. On 3 September 1944, he established, in cooperation with the colonial administration, the African Agricultural Union (Syndicat agricole africain, SAA). Under his presidency, the SAA brought together African farmers who were dissatisfied with their paychecks and worked to protect their interests against those of European settlers. Anti-colonialist and anti-racist, the organisation demanded better working conditions, higher wages, and the abolition of unfree labor. The union quickly received the support of nearly 20,000 plantation workers. Its success irritated the colonists to the extent that they took legal action against Houphouët.

Houphouët entered electoral politics in August 1945, when elections for the Abdijan city council were held for the first time. The electoral rules established that on a common roll, half of the elected would have to be French citizens (who were mostly white colonists) and the other half non-citizens: Houphouët reacted by creating a multi-ethnic all-African roll with both citizens and non-citizens, thus assuring a decisive victory for his African Bloc. In October 1945, Houphouët moved onto the national political scene; the French government decided to represent its colonies in the assemblée constituante, and gave Côte d'Ivoire and Upper Volta two representatives in Parliament: one representing the French citizens and another representing the indigenous population. Houphouët ran for the indigenous seat and, with the popularity of his African Agricultural Union, easily came first with a 1,000-vote majority. He failed, however, to obtain an absolute majority. Houphouët emerged victorious again in the second round held on 4 November 1945, in which he defeated an Upper Voltan candidate with 12,980 votes out of a total of 31,081. In honour of his entry into politics, he decided to add "Boigny", meaning "irresistible force" in Baoulé (symbolizing his role as a leader) to his surname, thus becoming Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

French political career

Member of Parliament

The Palais Bourbon, where Houphouët-Boigny was appointed to the territorial commission.

At the Palais Bourbon, Houphouët-Boigny was appointed a member of the Commission des territoires d'outre-mer (Commission on Overseas Territories). During this time he worked to implement the wishes of the SAA. He proposed a bill to abolish forced labor—the single most unpopular feature of French rule—on 1 March 1946, which the Assembly adopted in 1947. On 3 April 1946, Houphouët-Boigny proposed to unify labour regulations in the territories of Africa; this would eventually be completed in 1952. Finally, on 27 September 1946, he filed a report on the public health system, calling for its reformation.

Houphouët-Boigny supported the French Union. In particular, he was an ardent proponent of a project that would build settlements in France's overseas departments and territories. The project was unpopular among most of France's population, who feared that the original colonizer would become subordinate to its own colonies. Trying to reassure them, Houphouët-Boigny replied that there was à l’heure actuelle (at present) no risk that Africans would take over France, rather such a union would stop the double policy pursued by France: one that was "métropolitaine et démocratique" (metropolitan and democratic), the other "coloniale et réactionnaire" (colonial and reactionary).

Following the adoption of the constitution of the Fourth Republic, Houphouët-Boigny was easily re-elected with 21,099 votes out of 37,888 votes cast. In 1946, he was appointed a member of the Commission des territoires d'outre-mer (Commission of overseas territories), for which he regulated universal suffrage. A secretary of the commission from 1947 to 1948, he proposed on 18 February 1947 to reform the French West Africa (AOF), French Equatorial Africa (AEF), and Conseil fédéral to better represent the African peoples. He called on numerous occasions for the creation of local assemblies in Africa so that Africans could learn how to be autonomous.

Foundation of the RDA and Communist alliance

On 9 April 1946, Houphouët-Boigny, with the help of the Groupes d'études communistes (Communist Study Groups), recreated the SAA as the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), the first effective political party in Côte d'Ivoire. The party became a member of the African Democratic Rally (RDA), an inter-territorial political movement founded in October 1946 at Bamako in French Soudan. Its goal was to free "Africa from the colonial yoke by the affirmation of her personality and by the association, freely agreed to, of a union of nations". Its first president, confirmed several times subsequently, was Houphouët-Boigny. Too small to form their own parliamentary group, the African deputies were compelled to join one of the larger existing parties in order to sit together in the Palais Bourbon. Thus, the RDA soon joined the French Communist Party (PCF) as the only openly anti-colonialist political faction. With the help of the Communists, the RDA organized strikes and boycotts of European imports. Houphouët-Boigny justified the alliance because it seemed at the time to be the only way for his voice to be heard: "Even before the creation of RDA, the alliance had served our cause: in March 1946, the abolition of compulsory labour was adopted unanimously, without a vote, thanks to our tactical alliance."

As the Cold War set in, the alliance with the Communists became increasingly damaging for the RDA, especially when the PCF moved permanently in opposition in 1947. The French colonial administration showed itself increasingly hostile toward the RDA and its president, whom it likened to a "Stalinist". Tensions reached their height at the beginning of 1950, when, following an incident, nearly the entire PDCI leadership was arrested. Houphouët-Boigny managed to slip away shortly before police arrived at his house and thus avoided the fate of his political allies. Ultimately, Houphouët-Boigny was saved by his parliamentary immunity, although his missed arrest was popularly attributed to his special powers and and his prestige. In the ensuing chaos, riots broke out in Côte d'Ivoire; the most significant of which was a clash with the police at Dimbokro in which 13 Africans were killed and 50 wounded. According to official figures, by 1951 52 Africans had been killed, several hundred wounded and around 3,000 arrested (numbers which, according to Thomas Hodgkin and Ruth Schachter, are certainly underestimated). In order to defuse the crisis, Prime Minister René Pleven entrusted the Minister for Overseas France, François Mitterrand, with the task of detaching the RDA from the PCF. Knowing he was at an impasse, in October 1950 Houphouët-Boigny agreed to break the Communist alliance and oriented the RDA toward a moderately leftist stance. Before the 1951 elections, he presented a common list with Mitterrand's party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR). The alliance became official in 1952. Asked why he worked with the communists, Houphouët-Boigny replied: "I, a bourgeois landowner, I would preach the class struggle? That is why we aligned ourselves with the Communist Party, without joining it."

Rehabilitation and entry into government

Hampered by his image as a Communist despite his attempts to distance himself the association, Houphouët-Boigny won a seat in the National Assembly in 1951 as the only RDA candidate elected in Côte d'Ivoire out of the two running. On 24 August 1951, he delivered a speech in the Assembly contesting the result of the elections, which he declared tainted by fraud. He also denounced what he saw as the exploitation of overseas deputies as "voting machines". Thereafter, Houphouët-Boigny and the RDA lived through a veritable period of purgatory before renewing their success in 1956; at that year's elections, the African mass party received 502,711 of 579,550 votes cast. From then on, its leader appeared to be a moderate. Named as a member of the Committees on Universal Suffrage, Constitutional Laws, Rules and Petitions, Houphouët-Boigny re-entered the government on 1 February 1956 as Minister Discharging the Duties of the Presidency of the Council in the Guy Mollet government, a post he held until 13 June 1957. His principal achievement in these roles was the creation of a shared organisation of Saharan regions that would help ensure energetic independence for the French Union and counter Moroccan territorial claims in the Sahara.

On 6 November 1957, Houphouët-Boigny became Minister of Public Health and Population of the Gaillard administration and attempted to reform its public health code. Four stints as Minister of State followed, under Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury (13 June – 6 November 1957), Pierre Pflimlin (14–17 May 1958), Charles de Gaulle (1 June 1958 – 8 January 1959) and Michel Debré (8 January – 20 May 1959). In this capacity, he participated in the development of France's African policy, notably in the cultural domain. At his behest, the Bureau of French Overseas Students and the University of Dakar would be created. On 4 October 1958, Houphouët-Boigny was one of the signatories, along with de Gaulle, of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. The last post he held in France was Minister-Counsellor in the Michel Debré government, from 23 July 1959 to 19 May 1961.

Pro-autonomy

Until the mid-1950s, French colonies in west and central Africa were grouped administratively within two federations: French Equatorial Africa (AEF) and French West Africa (AOF). Côte d'Ivoire was part of the AOF, financing roughly two thirds of its budget. Wishing to liberate the country from the cumbersome guardianship of the AOF, Houphouët-Boigny advocated an Africa made up of nations that would generate wealth rather than share poverty and misery. He participated actively in the drafting and adoption of the framework of the Defferre Loi Cadre, a French legal reform which in addition to granting autonomy to African colonies, would break the ties that bound the different territories together, giving them more autonomy by means of local assemblies. The Deffere Loi Cadre was far from unanimously accepted by his compatriots in Africa: Léopold Sédar Senghor, leader of Senegal, was the first to speak out against this attempted "Balkanization" of Africa, arguing that the colonial territories "do not correspond to any reality: be it geographical, economic, ethnic, or linguistic". For Senghor, maintaining the AOF would give them stronger political credibility to develop harmoniously and to culturally emerge as a genuine people. In his defence of this matter, Senghor was joined by most members of the African Democratic Rally, who rallied behind Ahmed Sékou Touré and Modibo Keïta, placing Houphouët-Boigny in the minority at the 1957 congress in Bamako.

Following the adoption of the Loi Cadre reform on 23 June 1956, a territorial election was held in Côte d'Ivoire on 3 March 1957, in which the PDCI—transformed under Houphouët-Boigny's firm control into a political machine—won a huge victory. Houphouët-Boigny, who was already serving as a minister in France, as President of the Territorial Assembly and as mayor of Abidjan, chose Auguste Denise to serve as Vice President of the Government Council of Côte d'Ivoire, even if he remained, for France, the only interlocutor in the colony. His popularity and influence in France's African colonies, on the growth of anti-French sentiment, had become so formidable that one French magazine claimed that by 1956, the politician's photograph "was in all the huts, on the lapels of coats, on the corsages of African women and even on the handlebars of bicycles".

On 7 April 1957, the Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, on a visit to Côte d'Ivoire, called on all colonies of Africa to declare their independence; Houphouët-Boigny retorted to Nkrumah:

Your experience is rather impressive … But due to the human relationships between the French and the Africans, and because in the 20th century, people have become interdependent, we considered that it would perhaps be more interesting to try a new and different experience than yours and unique in itself, one of a Franco-African community based on equality and fraternity.

Unlike many African leaders who immediately claimed independence, Houphouët-Boigny wished for a careful transition within the "ensemble français" because, according to him, political independence without economic independence was worthless. He also invited Nkrumah to meet up with him in 10 years to see which one of the two had chosen the best approach toward independence.

The issue of federalism truly arose when Charles de Gaulle proposed a constitutional referendum to the Franco-African community on 28 September 1958, in which colonies were given the choice to either support the constitution or proclaim their independence and be cut off from France. For Houphouët-Boigny, the choice was simple: "Whatever happens, Côte d'Ivoire will enter directly to the Franco-African community. The other territories are free to group between themselves before joining." Only Guinea chose independence; its leader, Ahmed Sékou Touré, opposed Houphouët-Boigny, stated his preference was that of "freedom in poverty over wealth in slavery". The referendum produced the French Community, an institution meant to be an association of free republics which had jurisdiction over foreign policy, defense, currency, common ethnic and financial policy, and strategic raw materials.

Houphouët-Boigny was determined to stop the hegemony of Senegal in West Africa; a real political confrontation ensued between Ivorian and Senegalese leaders. Houphouët-Boigny refused to participate in the Inter-African conference in Dakar on 31 December 1958, intended to lay the foundation for the Federation of Francophone African States. Although that federation was never realised, Senegal and Mali formed their own political union, the Mali Federation. After de Gaulle allowed the Mali Federation independence in 1959, Houphouët-Boigny tried to sabotage the federation's efforts to wield political control; in cooperation with France, he managed to convinced Upper Volta, Dahomey and Niger not to join the Mali Federation, composed of Senegal and French Sudan until it collapsed in August 1960. After Côte-d’Ivoire gained sovereignty, Houphouët-Boigny won his first victory against those supporting federalism. This victory established the conditions that made the future "Ivorian miracle" possible, since between 1957 and 1959, budget revenue grew by 158%, reaching 21,723,000,000 CFA francs. However, upset by the President of France's move regarding the Mali Federation, the members of the Conseil de l'Entente and Houphouët-Boigny asked for Côte d'Ivoire's independence, which he proclaimed on 7 August 1960. On 27 November, he was elected unopposed to the Presidency of the republic, while the list of candidates of the PDCI, the only participating party, was approved for the National Assembly.

President of Côte d'Ivoire

Rise to power

Houphouët-Boigny officially became the head of the government of Côte d'Ivoire on 1 May 1959. Although he faced no opposition from rival parties—the PDCI having become the de facto party of the state in 1957— but he was confronted by internal opposition. Radical nationalists, led by Jean-Baptiste Mockey, openly opposed the government's Francophile policies. In an attempt to solve this problem, Houphouët-Boigny decided to exile Mockey in September 1959, claiming that Mockey had attempted to assassinate him using maleficent fetishes in the "complot du chat noir" (black cat conspiracy).

In 1960, Houphouët-Boigny began drafting a new constitution for Côte d'Ivoire. It drew heavily from the United States Constitution in establishing a powerful executive branch, and from the Constitution of France, which limited the capacities of the legislature. He transformed the National Assembly into a mere recording house for bills and budget proposals; the deputies were to be appointed by the head of government, and the PDCI was to act like an intermediary between the masses and the government. Houphouët-Boigny advocated dialogue between Arabs and Israelis in July 1962. Speaking to his Israeli hosts on a visit to Jerusalem, he expressed what was to become one of his most famous quotes: "We do not think there is any problem in the world, no matter how difficult or intractable, that cannot be settled through negotiation."

1963 was marked by a series of alleged plots that played a decisive role in ultimately consolidating all power in the hands of Houphouët-Boigny. There is no clear consensus on the unfolding of the 1963 events; in fact, there may have been no plot at all and the entire series of events may have been part of a plan by Houphouët-Boigny to consolidate his hold on power. What is certain is that between 120 and 200 secret trials were held in Yamoussoukro, in which key political figures—including Mockey and the president of the Supreme Court Ernest Boka—were implicated. According to the official story, the latter committed suicide in prison. There was discontent in the army, as the generals stirred following the arrest of the Defense Minister Jean Konan Banny, and the president had to intervene personally to sedate them. From then on, Houphouët-Boigny governed Côte d'Ivoire as a dictator, until 1908 only delegating limited powers to three lieutenants: Jean-Baptiste Mockey, Auguste Denise and Philippe Yacé. Nevertheless, once he consolidated his power, he freed political prisoners in 1967. Under his brand of paternalistic authoritarianism, Houphouët-Boigny subdued dissent by offering government positions instead of incarceration. According to Robert Mundt, his power was never seriously challenged from 1963 until his death.

In order to foil any plans for a coup, the president reduced the numbers of the National Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FANCI), created on 27 July 1960, to a minimum. Thus, defence was entrusted to the French armed forces that, pursuant to the treaty on defence cooperation of 24 April 1961, were stationed at Port-Bouët and could intervene in the country at Houphouët-Boigny's request or when they considered French interests to be threatened. They intervened during attempts by the Sanwi monarchists to secede in 1959 and 1969, and again in 1970, when an unauthorised political group, the Eburnian Movement, was formed and Houphouët-Boigny accused its leader Kragbé Gnagbé of wishing to secede.

Opposition

Gbagbo

Houphouët-Boigny imprisoned Laurent Gbagbo, a trade unionist, and his wife Simone Ehivet Gbagbo in Séguéla and Bouaké from March 1971 to January 1973. After his release, Gbagbo worked as a researcher at the Institute of History, Art, and African Archaeology at the University of Abidjan before becoming the University's director in 1980.

Gbagbo, as President of Côte d'Ivoire, in 2007

Gbagbo gained recognition as one of the principal instigators of the student demonstrations on 9 February 1982, which led to the closing of the universities and other educational institutions. During that year, he and his wife formed what would become the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). Gbagbo went into exile in France later that year, where he promoted the FPI and its program of government. Although the FPI was ideologically similar to Guy Labertit and the Unified Socialist Party, the French socialist government tried to "ignore" it to spare Houphouët-Boigny. It was not until three years later that Gbagbo obtained status as a political refugee in France thanks to an appeal. However, the government tried to pressure him into returning to Côte d'Ivoire, as Houphouët-Boigny began to worry about Gbagbo's developing network of contacts, and believed that "his stirring opponent would be less of a threat in Abidjan than in Paris".

In 1988, Gbagbo returned from exile to Côte d'Ivoire after Houphouët-Boigny implicitly granted him forgiveness by declaring that "the tree did not get angry at the bird". On 28 October 1990, a presidential election was held, which for the first time featured a candidate other than Houphouët-Boigny: Gbagbo. He made a point of the President's age, suggesting that he was too old for a seventh five-year term. Houphouët-Boigny did not counter this, instead broadcasting television footage of his youth, and he won 2,445,365 votes to 548,441. In the legislative elections on 25 November 1990, the FPI won nine of 175 seats; Gbagbo himself was elected in the district of Ouaragahio, where his hometown is located.

Two important student demonstrations took place in May 1991 and February 1992. On 18 February (while Alassane Ouattara was the Prime Minister), Gbagbo was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison, but was released in August.

Wodié

Since 1961, Francis Wodié, the founding member of SYNARES and former president of the Côte d'Ivoire branch of Amnesty International, had been harassed by Houphouët-Boigny's government for his trade union activities, which were deemed "subversive". A year later, he was imprisoned for a short time. In 1973, after being once again targeted by the presidential regime, he went into exile in Algeria. When the multiparty system was authorized in 1990, Wodié created the Ivorian Workers' Party (PIT), a small opposition party. He was elected as the representative for Cocody—the only member of Parliament from his party.

Prosperity during the 1960s and 1970s

Houphouët-Boigny adopted a system of economic liberalism in Côte d'Ivoire in order to obtain the trust and confidence of foreign investors, most notably the French. The advantages granted by the code of investments he established in 1959 allowed foreign business to repatriate up to 90% of their profits in their country of origin (the remaining 10% was reinvested in Côte d'Ivoire). He also developed an agenda for modernizing the country's infrastructure, most notably with the building of an American-style business district in Abidjan where five-star hotels and resorts welcomed tourists and businessmen. Côte d'Ivoire experienced an economic growth of 11–12% from 1960 to 1965. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew twelve-fold between 1960 and 1978, from 145 to 1,750 billion CFA francs, while the trade balance continued to record a surplus.

The origin of this economic success stemmed from the president's decision to focus on the primary sector of the economy, rather than the secondary sector. As a result of this decision, the agricultural sector experienced significant development: between 1960 and 1970, cocoa cultivators tripled their production to 312,000 tonnes, coffee production rose by nearly 50%, from 185,500 to 275,000 tonnes, while wood exports went from 90,000 to 1,250,000 tonnes between 1950 and 1965. In addition to wood, which accounted for 80% of all exports from Côte d'Ivoire, banana and pineapple exports rose to 150,000 and 40,000 tonnes, respectively, by 1965. Farmers in the north were strongly encouraged to develop cotton farming in their region. However, Côte d'Ivoire, through the Caistab (Caisse de stabilisation et de soutien des prix des productions agricoles), which guaranteed a minimum purchase price for planters' harvests each year (lower than market prices, but considered satisfactory), maintained a monopoly on the exports of coffee, cocoa and cotton. Considerable resources were made available to finance national projects.

Although not the pillar of the Ivorian economy, the secondary sector also increased dramatically, particularly through the installation of grist mills, oil mills, and canneries. Between 1960 and 1973, industrial production recorded an annual growth rate average of 20%, increasing its share in the GDP from 15 to 25%. The revenues of small and large industries went from 13.5 to 164 billion CFA francs, while for the period from 1973 to 1983, it multiplied nearly nine-fold to 1.170 billion CFA francs.

This economic expansion profoundly altered the lifestyles of Ivorians, resulting in a rural-to-urban exodus and an increase in the average annual income per household to 500,000 CFA francs in 1980. A strong demand for "modern" cereals emerged in Côte d'Ivoire, particularly corn and rice; this new demand, as elsewhere in Africa, assimilated to social elevation. Educational efforts were also made: in 1975, the enrollment rate for primary education was 17.3%, 5.1% for secondary education and 0.5% for higher education; by 1985, the literacy rate was 57.3% for people over the age of 15.

This progress, mainly in the economy, was a rare example of success in post-colonial Africa and made Côte d'Ivoire a country of prosperity in West Africa. Côte d'Ivoire saw an influx of immigrants and the foreign workforce—mostly Burkinabès—who maintain indigenous plantations, represented over a quarter of the Ivorian population by 1980. The "Ivorian miracle", as it is called, had given Houphouët-Boigny an image as the "Sage of Africa", both by Ivorians and foreigners. He was respectfully nicknamed "The Old One".

Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire

Economy on the brink of collapse

The economic system developed in cooperation with France was far from perfect. As Houphouët-Boigny described it, the economy of Côte d'Ivoire experienced "growth without development". The growth of the economy depended on capital, initiatives and a financial framework from investors abroad; it had not become independent or self-sustaining.

From 1978, the economy of Côte d'Ivoire experienced a serious decline due to the sharp downturn in international market prices of coffee and cocoa. The decline was perceived as a fleeting situation, since its impact on planters was accentuated by the Caistab, the agricultural marketing board, which ensured them a decent income. From 1979, in order to prevent a sudden drop in prices, the government attempted to stand in the way of tariffs on raw materials by boycotting the world market prices. However, by applying only this solution, Côte-d’Ivoire lost more than 700 billion CFA francs between 1980 and 1982. In addition, from 1983 to 1984, Côte-d’Ivoire fell victim to a drought that ravaged nearly 400,000 hectares of forest and 250,000 hectares of coffee and cocoa. To address this problem, Houphouët-Boigny traveled to London to negotiate an agreement on coffee and cocoa prices with traders and industrialists; in 1984, the agreement was broken and Côte d'Ivoire was engulfed in a financial crisis.

Even the production of offshore oil drilling and the petrochemical industry, developed to supply the Caistab, was affected by the 1986 worldwide economic recession. Côte d'Ivoire, which bought planters' harvests for double the market price, fell into heavy debt. In May 1987, the foreign debt reached $US10 billion, prompting Houphouët-Boigny to suspend remboursements of the debt. Refusing to sell off its supply of cocoa, the country froze exports in July and forced world rates to increase. However, this "embargo" failed. In November 1989, Houphouët-Boigny resigned to liquidate his enormous stock of cocoa to big businesses. Gravely ill, he named a Prime Minister (the post was unoccupied since 1960), Alassane Ouattara, who established a series of belt-tightening economic measures.

Social tensions

During the time of economic growth in Côte d'Ivoire, a general climate of enrichment and satisfaction made it possible for Houphouët-Boigny to maintain and control interior political tensions; his easy-going dictatorship, where political prisoners were almost nonexistent, was well accepted by the population. However, the economic crisis that began at the end of 1980s induced a harsh degradation in living conditions for the middle class and underprivileged urban populations. According to the World Bank, the population living below the poverty threshold went from 11% in 1985 to 31% by 1993. Despite the implementation of certain measures, such as the reduction of the number of young French workers (who worked abroad in lieu of serving in the military) from 3,000 to 2,000 in 1986, which liberated thousands of jobs for young graduates from Côte d'Ivoire, the government failed to control the rising rates of unemployment and bankruptcy in many companies.

Strong social agitations shook the country, creating a climate of insecurity. The army mutinied in 1990 and 1992, and on 2 March 1990, protesters organized demonstrations in the streets of Abidjan with slogans such as "thief Houphouët" and "corrupt Houphouët". These popular demonstrations compelled the president to launch a system of democratization on 31 May, in which he authorized political pluralism and trade unions. At the time of the presidential election of 28 October 1990, Houphouët-Boigny was confronted for the first time by an opponent, Gbagbo. However, that did not prevent him from being re-elected to his seventh term with 81.7% of the vote, to the dismay of his FPI opponent who, alleging manipulation of the Nationality Code, called for clear differentiation between nationals and foreign emigrants, insofar as the emigrants had the same civic rights, both political and social, as the nationals, and had almost automatically offered their votes to their "protector", Houphouët-Boigny. Gbagbo went even further, claiming legal recognition of rights of national land and calling into question the properties acquired for decades by Burkinabé planters in the west and southwest forests.

Scandals and splendor of the regime

File:Ourladyofpeaceafricaexterior.jpg

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro

In 1977, a case of embezzlement, which involved overcharging by three sugar refineries, shook the government. No trial took place, but steps were taken to prevent such a matter from arising again. On 23 June 1977, an anti-corruption law was adopted, and by 20 July, nine ministers had been dismissed for violating the law. In order to reform public life, Houphouët-Boigny donated his plantations in Yamoussoukro to the State. In the parliamentary elections of 1980, he allowed voters for the first time to choose among a multitude of candidates in order to eliminate a number of barons of the regime. Despite the measures, corruption had not been completely erradicated. It became even more visible during the 1980s economic crisis. In 1983, the ruling class was embroiled in a financial scandal involving the LOGEMAD, a state agency in charge of paying owners for the rent of homes occupied by public officials. Through their nearly complete control of the program, politicians filed administrative leases for their housing, and then rented it to other public officials to collect on payments from LOGEMAD; at the same time they made it difficult for others to participate in the program.

The president was himself involved in this matter since his family received 6,700,000 CFA francs per month from the State. During his presidency, he benefited greatly from the wealth of Côte-d’Ivoire; by the time of his death in 1993, his personal wealth was estimated to be between seven and eleven billion dollars. With regard to his colossal fortune, Houphouët-Boigny said in 1983, "People are surprised that I like gold. It's just that I was born in it." The Ivorian leader acquired a dozen properties in the metropolitan area of Paris (including Hotel Masseran on Masseran Street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris), a property in Castel Gandolfo in Italy, and a house in Chêne-Bourg, Switzerland. He owned real estate companies, such as Grand Air SI, SI Picallpoc and Interfalco, and had many shares in jewelry and prestigious watchmaking companies, such as Piaget SA and Harry Winston. He placed his huge fortune in Switzerland, once asking if "there any serious man on earth not stocking parts of his fortune in Switzerland".

Houphouët-Boigny devoted himself to luxury. In 1983, the capital was moved from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro. There, at the expense of the state, he built many buildings such as the Institute Polytechnique and an international airport. The most pharaonic project was the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, which, despite widespread reports, is not a concrete replica of St. Peter's in Vatican City. While it bears a superficial resemblance to the largest Christian basilica in the world, it is instead a high-tech marvel of stained glass, marble and steel. Personally financed by Houphouët-Boigny, construction for the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was carried out between 1985 and 1989 by the Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury and the French company Dumez at a total cost of 1–1.5 billion French francs (US$300 million). It is currently the largest church in the world at 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft) and is 158 metres (518 ft) high. Houphouët-Boigny offered it to Pope John Paul II, who consecrated it on 10 September 1990. The unveiling of such splendor, during a collapse of the national economy, did not have the effect Houphouët-Boigny hoped it would; it fueled discontent among the population, some condemning it as "a self-serving attempt by an old man to buy his immortality in heaven and on earth".

Death

Succession and death

The political, social and economic crisis also touched the issue of the succession to Houphouët-Boigny as the head of State. After the removal in 1980 of the President's political heir Philippe Yacé, who as President of the National Assembly was entitled to exercise the full functions of President of the Republic if the the Head of State was incapacitated or absent, Houphouët-Boigny delayed as much as he could in officially designating a successor. The president's increasingly fragile health stirred the ambitions of his potential successors. The struggle for a successor ended when Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, who, since 1990, had generally administrated the country during the president's frequent hospitalizations in France, was rejected in favour of Henri Konan Bédié, Houphouët-Boigny's protégé and President of the National Assembly. In December 1993, the President, terminally ill with prostate cancer, was urgently flown back to his country so he could die there. He was kept on life support, so that the last dispositions concerning his succession were defined. After his family consented, Houphouët-Boigny was disconnected from life support at 6:35 A.M. GMT on 7 December. It was announced by Ouattara in a televised address 33 years to the day after the West African country became independent from France.

Funeral

His peaceful fight for peace among men and women will be continued by all Ivorians, steadfastly true to the memory of the person who was for us, at one and the same time, the first President of our Republic, the father of our independence, the builder of our State, and the symbol and bond of our national unity. He sowed the seeds of peace, braving all the dangers. Deep in his heart, he cherished the constant hope to see the harvests gathered in, so that men and women might come to persevere with the solidarity required of them, like so many ears of corn reaped in fields of harmony.

— Henri Konan Bédié, President of Côte d'Ivoire

Following the President's death, the country's unity, as seen by his impressive funeral held on 7 February 1994, was maintained. There were no serious incidents, although several women wished to fall on the ground and bury their heads in straw baskets in accordance with traditional mourning customs. The funeral for this "doyen of Africa", was held in the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, with 7,000 guests inside the building and "tens of thousands" outside. The two-month delay before Houpouët-Boigny's funeral, common among members of the Baoule ethnic group, allowed for many ceremonies preceding his burial.

The president's funeral featured many traditional African funerary customs, including a large chorus dressed in bright batik dresses singing "laagoh budji gnia" (Baoule for "Lord, it is you who has made all things") and village chiefs displaying strips of kente and korhogo cloth. Baoles are traditionally buried with objects they enjoyed while alive, and Houpouët-Boigny was no exception. His family, however, did not state what they would bury with him, and it is considered rude to inquire.

Over 140 countries sent delegates to the funeral. However, according to the New York Times many Ivorians were disappointed by the attendance of several key allies, most notably the United States. The small delegation was led by Secretary of Energy, Hazel O'Leary, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, George Moose. In contrast, close personal ties with France were reflected in the large French delegation, including Houphouët-Boigny's friend President François Mitterrand, Prime Minister Édouard Balladur, the presidents of the National Assembly and of the Senate, Philippe Séguin and René Monory, former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Jacques Chirac, his friend Jacques Foccart and six former Prime Ministers. According to the New York Times, "Houphouët-Boigny's death is not only the end of a political era here, but perhaps as well the end of the close French-African relationship that he came to symbolize."

Aftermath

At the time of his death, Houpouët-Boigny was Africa's longest-serving leader and the third longest in the world, after Fidel Castro of Cuba and Kim Il Sung of North Korea. After his death, Bédié became the country's new president, but he had neither his predecessor's vision nor his charisma. Due to his rivalries with Robert Guéï, Laurent Gbagbo and the former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, Bédié conceived in 1995 of the concept of "ivoirité", the common cultural identity of all those living in Côte d'Ivoire. However, nationalist and xenophobic ideas fanned by politics and the press changed it to mean those living in the south and east of the country. This resulted in heated ethnic and religious tensions, especially after northern presidential candidate Ouattara was barred from participating in the 2000 presidential election. By 2002, these ethnic tensions, which Félix Houphouët-Boigny had always avoided by favouring the building of an Ivorian nation, led to the start of the Ivorian Civil War.

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

Main article: Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

South African leader Nelson Mandela, the 1991 recipient of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize.

In order to leave a legacy as a man of peace, Houphouët-Boigny created a prize in 1989, sponsored by UNESCO, to honor those who search for peace, entirely funded by extrabudgetary resources provided by the Félix-Houphouët-Boigny Foundation. The prize is "named after President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the doyen of African Heads of State and a tireless advocate of peace, concord, fellowship and dialogue to solve all conflicts both within and between States", and is awarded annually, along with a check for €122,000, by an international jury composed of 11 persons from five continents, led by former United States Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger.

The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was first awarded in 1991 to Nelson Mandela, president of the African National Congress, and Frederik Willem de Klerk, President of the Republic of South Africa. The prize has been awarded each year since, with the exception of 2001 and 2004. Other recipients include former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Philippines Fidel V. Ramos, President of the United States Jimmy Carter, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin, President of the PNA Yasser Arafat, current President of Israel Shimon Peres, and the King of Spain Juan Carlos I.

African political career

OAU under Houphouët-Boigny

Following the example of Charles de Gaulle who refused proposals for an integrated Europe, Houphouët-Boigny opposed Kwame Nkrumah's proposed United States of Africa, which called into question the recently acquired national sovereignty. However, the leader was not against African unity that developed in the form of cooperation on a case by case basis.

On 29 May 1959, Houphouët-Boigny created in cooperation with Hamani Diori (Niger), Maurice Yaméogo (Upper Volta) and Hubert Maga (Dahomey) the Conseil de l'Entente (English: Council of Accord or Council of Understanding). This regional organization, founded in order to hamper the Mali Federation, was designed with three major functions:

• To allow shared management of certain public services, such as the port of Abidjan or the Abidjan–Niger railway line.
• To provide a solidarity fund accessible to member countries, 90% of which was provided by the Ivory Coast.
• To provide funding for various development projects through low-interest loans to member states (70% of loans were supplied by Côte d'Ivoire).

In 1966, Houphouët-Boigny even offered to grant dual citizenship to nationals from member countries of the Conseil de l'Entente, but the proposition was quickly abandoned following pressure from popular protests. The Ivorian president committed to providing financial support to allies in exchange for their respective allegiances to Côte d'Ivoire.

The ambitious Ivorian leader had even greater schemes for French-speaking Africa: he intended to rally the different nations behind a large organization whose objective was the mutual assistance of its member states. The project became a reality on 7 September 1961 with the signing of a charter giving birth to the l’Union africaine et malgache (UAM; English: African and Malagasy Union), comprising of twelve French-speaking countries including Léopold Sédar Senghor's Senegal. Agreements were signed in various sectors, such as economic, military and telecommunications, which strengthened solidarity among Francophone states. However, the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in May 1963 affected his plans: the supporters of Pan-Africanism demanded the dissolution of all regional groupings, such as the UAM; the Ivorian president reluctantly ceded, and transformed the UAM into the Organisation africaine et malgache de coopération économique et culturelle (English: African and Malagasy Organization of economic and cultural cooperation).

Considering the OAU as a dead end organization, and especially since Paris was opposed to the group, Houphouët-Boigny decided to create in 1965 l’Organisation commune africaine et malgache (OCAM; English: African and Malagasy Organization), a French organization in competition with the OAU. The organization included among its members 16 countries, whose aim was to break revolutionary ambitions in Africa. However, over the years, the organization became too subservient to France, resulting in the departure of all but eight countries.

In 1974, Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor put aside their differences and joined forces to thwart Nigeria, which, in an attempt to established itself in West Africa, had created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The two countered the ECOWAS by creating the Economic Community of West Africa (ECWA), which superseded the old trade unions in the French-speaking regions. However, after having received assurances from Nigeria that they would maintain ECOWAS like earlier Francophone organizations, Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor decided to merge their organization into ECOWAS in May 1975.

Frenchman in Africa

Throughout his presidency, Houphouët-Boigny surrounded himself with French advisers, whose influence extended to all areas, such as Guy Nairay, Chief of Staff from 1960 to 1993, and Alain Belkiri, Secretary-General of the Ivorian government. This type of diplomacy, Françafrique as he called it, allowed him to maintain very close ties with the former colonial power, making him the main African ally to France. Whenever one country would enter an agreement or partnership with an African nation, the other would unconditionally give their support; through this arrangement, Houphouët-Boigny built a close friendship with Jacques Foccart, the spin-doctor on African policy in the de Gaulle and Pompidou governments.

Destabilization of revolutionary regimes

Ahmed Sékou Touré, the President of Guinea (1958–1984).

By granting independence to Guinea through the 28 September 1958 French constitutional referendum, Ahmed Sékou Touré had not only defied de Gaulle, but also his fellow African, Houphouët-Boigny. His operations were immediately placed in quarantine in Conakry and the Guinean Democratic Party was excluded from the RDA. Tensions between Houphouët-Boigny and Touré began to rise thanks to SDECE conspiracies against the the Sékou Touré regime; in January 1960, Houphouët-Boigny delivered small arms en masse to former rebels in the Man region and incited his counsel in 1965 to agree to jointly taking part in an attempt to overthrow Sékou Touré. In 1967, he promoted the creation of the Front national de libération de la Guinée (FNLG; English: National Front for the Liberation of Guinea), a reserve of men ready to plot the downfall of Sékou Touré.

Since Guinea became independent, Houphouët-Boigny's relationship with Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of neighboring Ghana, degraded considerably after Nkrumah provided financial and political support to Sékou Touré. After Sékou Touré convinced Nkrumah to support the secessionist Sanwi in Côte d’Ivoire, Houphouët-Boigny began a campaign to discredit the Ghanaian regime. He accused Nkrumah of trying to destabilize Côte d'Ivoire in 1963, and called for the Francophone states to boycott the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) conference scheduled to take place in Accra. Nkrumah was ousted from power in 1966 in a military coup; Houphouët-Boigny allowed the conspirators to use Côte d'Ivoire as a base to coordinate the arrival and departure of their missions.

Also in collaboration with Foccart, Houphouët-Boigny took part in a conspiracy carried out against the revolutionary regime of Mathieu Kérékou in Dahomey, most notably in the attempted coup of 16 January 1977 led by famed French mercenary Bob Denard. He was also in Angola when, in order to fight against the Marxists in power since 1975, he lent his support to Jonas Savimbi's UNITA party, whose feud with the MPLA party led to the start of the Angolan Civil War.

Despite his reputation as a destabaliser, Houphouët-Boigny granted refuge to Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the exiled Central African Republic rebel, in 1979. This was met with international criticism. Becoming a political and financial burden, Bokassa was expulsed in 1983.

Alignment with France

Houphouët-Boigny was also involved in the Congo Crisis. In November 1960, the United Nations tried to remove Congo-Kinshasa from the influence of the revolutionary Marxist Patrice Lumumba; the Ivorian leader supported Joseph Kasa-Vubu, an opponent of Lumumba, and aligned himself with France in supporting the controversial Congolese leader Moise Tshombe. Tshombe, disliked by much of Africa, was passionately defended by Houphouët-Boigny and was even invited into OCAM in May 1965. After the overthrow of Kasa-Vubu by General Mobutu in November 1965, the Ivorian president supported, in 1967, a plan proposed by the French secret service which aimed to bring to bring the deposed Congolese leader back into power. The operation was a failure. In response, Houphouët-Boigny decided to boycott the fourth annual summit of the OAU held in September 1967 in the capital of Zaire.

Houphouët-Boigny was also a major contributor to the political tensions in Biafra. Considering Nigeria as a potential danger to French-influenced African states, Foccart sent in 1963, Houphouët-Boigny and Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond Bichelot on a mission to monitor political developments in the country. The opportunity to weaken the former British colony presented itself in May 1967, when Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu undertook the secession of Biafra. Francafrique supported the secessionists who, provided with mercenaries and weapons by Jean-Mauricheau-Beaupré, began a particularly bloody civil war. This did not prevent Houphouët-Boigny from declaring on 17 April, 1978 that he was "outraged, shocked and appalled by the prolongation of the atrocious war raging in Biafra". Confronted with such an attitude, the French-supported nations suddenly and openly distanced themselves from the policy held on this issue by France and Côte d'Ivoire. Isolated on the international scene, both countries decided to suspend their assistance to Ojukwu, who eventually went into exile in Côte d'Ivoire.

At the request of Paris, Houphouet-Boigny began forging relations with South Africa in October 1970, justifying his attitude by stating that "[t]he problems of racial discrimination, so painful, so distressing, so revolting to our dignity of Negros, must not be resolved, we believe, by force."

He even proposed to the OAU in June 1971 that they follow this decision. Despite receiving some support, his proposal was rejected. This refusal did not, however, prevent him to continue his attempts to approach the Pretoria regime. His attempts materialized in October of that year, when a semi-official meeting between a delegation of high level Ivorian officials and South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster was held in the capital of South Africa. Moreover, mindful of the Communist influence in Africa, he himself met Vorster in Geneva in 1977, after the Soviet Union and Cuba tried to collectively spread their influence in Angola and Ethiopia. Until the end of his presidency, relations with South Africa continued on an official basis; in 1987, he granted South African Airways landing rights for flights between Johannesburg and Europe and on 25 October 1988, a meeting was held in Yamoussoukro between Houphouët-Boigny and South African President P. W. Botha and with his successor F. W. de Klerk a year later.

Mutual support

Besides supporting policies pursued by France, Houphouët-Boigny also influenced France's policy on Africa. He pushed France to support and provide arms to the rebel group of warlord Charles Taylor during the First Liberian Civil War in order to obtain some of the country's assets and resources from the rebel leader after the war.

After Thomas Sankara took power in Burkina Faso, Houphouët-Boigny embarked on a highly turbulent relationship with the new leader. Tensions reached their climax in 1985; Côte d'Ivoire burkinabés accused the authorities of being involved in a conspiracy and attempt to forcibly recruit young students to training camps in Libya. Houphouët-Boigny responded by inviting the dissident captain Jean-Claude Kamboulé to take refuge in Côte d'Ivoire so that he could organize opposition to the Sankara regime. In 1987, Sankara was overthrown and assassinated in a coup which irked of a French involvement. Houphouët-Boigny was most probably also involved in planning the takeover. In fact, in November, the PDCI asked the government to ban the sale of Jeune Afrique following its allegations that Houphouët-Boigny had participated in the coup. The Ivorian president would have greatly benefited from the divisions in the Burkina Faso government, so he contacted Blaise Compaoré, the number two man in the regime. It is believed that they worked in conjunction with the President of France François Mitterrand, Laurent Dona Fologo, Robert Guéï and Pierre Ouédraogo to overthrow the Sankara regime.

Personal life

Houphouët-Boigny family

Félix Houphouët-Boigny and his wife Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny with John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy in 1962.

Houphouët-Boigny descended from tribal chiefs through his mother, Kimou N'Drive (also known as N’Dri Kan), who died in 1936. Doubts remain as to the identity of his father. Officially a native of the N’Zipri of Didiévi tribe, N’Doli Houphouët died shortly after the birth of his son Augustin in 1939, although no reliable information regarding this event exists. This lack of clarity gives rise to all sorts of rumors including one particularly widespread one that his father was a Muslim born in Sudan named Cissé. In any case, through his parents, Houphouët-Boigny had two elder sisters, Faitai (1898?-1998) and Adjoua (d. 1987) as well as younger brother, Augustine (d. 1939).

A practicing Catholic, in 1930, he married Kady Racine Sow (1913–2006), daughter of a wealthy Muslim from Senegal, in Abengourou. The two families were initially opposed to the union, but ended up accepting this interfaith marriage, which is said to be the first ever celebrated in Côte d'Ivoire. Kady bore him five children: Felix (who died in infancy), Augustine, Francis, William and Mary, all raised as Catholics.

Houphouët-Boigny divorced his first wife in 1952 to marry the much younger Marie-Therese Houphouet-Boigny, then dubbed "Africa's Jackie" after the couple visited the Kennedy White House in 1962. The couple had no children of their own, but they adopted two: five-year-old Helena in 1960, the granddaughter of King Baoulé Anoungbré, and Olivier Antoine in 1981.

The marriage was not without scandal: in 1958, Marie-Therese went on a romantic escapade in Italy, while in 1961, Houphouët-Boigny fathered a child (Florence, d. 2007) out of wedlock by his mistress Henriette Duvignac. Houphouët-Boigny left no written will or legacy report for Côte d’Ivoire upon his death in 1993. His recognized heirs, especially Helena, led a battle against the government to recover part of the vast fortune Houphouët-Boigny had left, which she claimed was "private" or not belonging to the State.

Political relations

See also: Ivorian–United States relations

Houphouët-Boigny's friends and political allies included Auguste Denise, Ernest Boka, Modibo Keïta, Charles de Gaulle, Mathieu Ekra, Germain Coffi Gadeau, Philippe Yacé, and Arsène Usher Assouan. His friendship with Victor Capri Djédjé, the President of the Territorial Assembly, deteriorated after the inauguration of the Port of Abidjan in 1951. Denis Bra Kanon, Gustave Kouassi Ouffoué, Alphonse Djédjé Mady, Henri Konan Bédié, Auguste Debray, Djéni Kobina all arrived on the Côte d'Ivoire political scene around 1970. On the international level, Houphouët-Boigny made contact with many politicians, including Frenchman Jacques Chirac and Omar Bongo of Gabon.

Opposition to the Soviet Union and China

Since Côte d'Ivoire's independence, Houphouët-Boigny considered the Soviet Union and China malevolent influences in developing countries and it did not establish diplomatic relations with Moscow until 1967. He then severed them in 1969 following allegations of direct Soviet support for a 1968 student protest at the National University of Côte d'Ivoire. The two countries did not restore ties until February 1986, by which time Houphouët-Boigny had embraced a more active foreign policy reflecting a more pragmatic view of the Soviet Union and his quest for greater international recognition.

Houphouët-Boigny was even more outspoken in his criticism of China. He voiced fears of an "invasion" by the Chinese and their subsequent colonization of Africa. He was especially concerned that Africans would see the problems of development in China as analogous to those of Africa, and China's solutions as appropriate to sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, Côte d'Ivoire did not normalize relations with China until 3 March 1983, being one of the last African countries to do so. Declaring them to be the sole legal government representing the entire Chinese people, the recognition by Côte d'Ivoire of the PRC effectively disestablished diplomatic relations between Abidjan and Taiwan, under the principle demanded by Beijing for "one China".

Positions in government

France

Position	Start date	End date
Member of French National Assembly	various	various
Member of the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Guy Mollet	1 February 1956	13 June 1957
Minister of State under Prime Minister Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury	13 June 1957	6 November 1957
Minister of Public Health and Population under Prime Minister Félix Gaillard	6 November 1957	14 May 1958
Minister of State under Prime Minister Pierre Pflimlin	14 May 1958	17 May 1958
Minister of State under Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle	1 June 1958	8 January 1959
Minister of State under Prime Minister Michel Debré	8 January 1959	20 May 1959
Advising minister under Prime Minister Debré	23 July 1959	19 May 1961

Côte d'Ivoire

Position	Start date	End date
President of the Territorial Assembly	24 March 1953	30 November 1959
Governor of Abidjan	1956	1960
Prime Minister	1 May 1959	3 November 1960
Minister of Interior	8 September 1959	3 January 1961
President of the Republic, Minister of Foreign Affairs	3 January 1961	10 September 1963
President of the Republic, Minister of Defense, Minister of Interior, Minister of Agriculture	10 September 1963	21 January 1966
President of the Republic, Minister of Economy and Finances, Minister of Defense, Minister of Agriculture	21 January 1966	23 September 1968
President of the Republic	23 September 1968	5 January 1970
President of the Republic	5 January 1970	8 June 1971
President of the Republic, Minister of National Education	8 June 1971	1 December 1971
President of the Republic	1 December 1971	7 December 1993

References

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• Amondji, Marcel (1986). Côte-d'Ivoire. Le P.D.C.I. et la vie politique de 1945 à 1985. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2-85802-631-9.
• Baulin, Jacques (1982). La Politique intérieure d'Houphouet-Boigny. Paris: Eurafor Press. OCLC 9982529.
• Baulin, Jacques (2000). La succession d'Houphouët-Boigny: les débuts de Konan Bédié. Paris: Karthala. ISBN 2845860919. OCLC 47756505.
• Brockman, Norbert C. (1994). An African Biographical Dictionary. Santa Barbara: =ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0874367284. OCLC 232129382. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• Diarra, Samba (1997). Les faux complots d'Houphouët-Boigny: fracture dans le destin d'une nation (1959–1970). Paris: Karthala. ISBN 2858091064. OCLC 37989753.
• Diégou, Bailly (2000). La Réinstauration du multipartisme en Côte d’Ivoire, ou la double mort d’Houphouët-Boigny. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2-73842-349-3.
• Ellenbogen, Alice (2002). La succession d'Houphouët-Boigny: entre tribalisme et démocratie. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2747529509. OCLC 62407712.
• Gbagbo, Laurent (1983). Côte-d'Ivoire: pour une alternative démocratique. Paris: Harmattan. p. 34. ISBN 2858023034. OCLC 11345813.
• Goba, Arsène Ouegui (2000). Côte-d'Ivoire: quelle issue pour la transition?. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2738494838. OCLC 216694298.
• Grainville, Patrick (1998). Le Tyran éternel. Paris: Seuil. ISBN 202032685X. OCLC 38481485.
• Handloff, Robert Earl (ed.) (1991). Ivory Coast: A Country Study. Library of Congress Country Studies. Washington: U.S. GPO. ISBN 0160309786. OCLC 21336559. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
• Koné, Amadou (2003). Houphouët-Boigny et la crise ivoirienne. Paris: Karthala. ISBN 2845863683. OCLC 52772495.
• Le Vine, Victor T. (2004). Politics in Francophone Africa: The States of West and Equatorial Africa. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-249-9. OCLC 54372166. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Lopez, Robert (2006). Au temps banni d'Houphouët-Boigny: Côté d'Ivoire, France, regards croisés. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2296018041. OCLC 77266134.
• Mel, Frédéric Grah (2003). Félix Houphouët-Boigny: Biographie. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. ISBN 2706817445. OCLC 55037638.
• Mundt, Robert J. (1997). "Côte d'Ivoire: Continuity and Change in a Semi-Democracy". In John F. Clark and David Gardinier (ed.). Political Reform in Francophone Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-2785-7. OCLC 35318507.
• Nandjui, Pierre (1995). Houphouët-Boigny: L'homme de la France en Afrique. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2738430902. OCLC 34875943.
• Ruffieux, Jean-Marie (1978). Il était une Fois Félix Houphouet Boigny. Paris: Afrique biblio club. ISBN 2858091064. OCLC 213096671.
• Segal, Ronald (1963). African profiles. Baltimore: Penguin Books. OCLC 13718888.
• Siriex, Paul-Henri (1975). Houphouët-Boigny, l'Homme de la paix. Abidjan: Nouvelles éditions africaines. OCLC 2389457.
• Siriex, Paul-Henri (1986). Houphouët-Boigny ou la sagesse africaine. Abidjan: Nouvelles éditions africaines. ISBN 272360781X. OCLC 17620671.
• Taylor & Francis Group (2003). Africa South of the Sahara 2004: South of the Sahara, 2004 (33rd ed. ed.). Routledge. ISBN 1-85743-183-9. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Teya, Pascal Koffi (1985). Côte-d'Ivoire: le roi est nu. Paris: Harmattan. OCLC 17804640.
• Toubabou, Le (2005). Le millefeuille ivoirien: un héritage de contraintes. Paris: Harmattan. ISBN 2747593576. OCLC 62895346.
• Toungara, Jeanne Maddox (March 1990). "The Apotheosis of Cote d'Ivoire's Nana Houphouet-Boigny". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 28 (1): 23–54. ISSN 0022-278X. OCLC 84360549.

Further reading

• Harshe, Rajen (1984). Pervasive Entente: France and Ivory Coast in African Affairs. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press. ISBN 039102891X. OCLC 11143809.
• Rémy, Myléne (1981). The Ivory Coast Today (3rd edition ed.). Paris: Les Éditions J.A. ISBN 2852582120. OCLC 8499559. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Tuinder, Bastiaan den (1978). Ivory Coast: The Challenge of Success. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801819393. OCLC 16421887.
• Wallerstein, Immanuel (1964). The Road to Independence: Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Mouton, Charente: La Haye. OCLC 935940.
• Zartman, I. William (1984). Political Economy of the Ivory Coast. New York: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0030640970. OCLC 10430271.
• Zolberg, Aristide (1964). One-Party Government in the Ivory Coast. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. OCLC 965225.

External links

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