World

Henri Lopes, 86, who straddled literature and politics in Africa, dies

Mr Lopes’s dual career spanned the formative years of both African nationhood and the continent’s literature

By AFP

December 06, 2023

Henri Lopes talks to reporters in Beirut.— AFP/File

PARIS: Henri Lopes, a writer and former prime minister of the Republic of Congo whose pioneering fiction mocked the abuses of African leaders but who later served one of the continent’s most brutal, died on Nov 2 in Suresnes, a suburb of Paris. He was 86.

His death, in a hospital, was announced by the Republic of Congo’s embassy in Paris. Mr Lopes’s dual career spanned the formative years of both African nationhood and the continent’s literature. He was richly rewarded in both spheres, with high positions in politics and diplomacy and prestigious literary prizes.