Celestine Ouezzin Coulibaly

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Makoukou Célestine Ouezzin Coulibaly-Traoré , née Macoucou Traoré , known as Célestine Ouezzin Coulibaly (* between 1910 and 1914 in the Banfora region, Upper Volta, † unknown) was an anti-colonial resistance fighter, women's rights activist and later politician in French West Africa . She was a co-founder of the women's movement of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain in the Ivory Coast and Upper Volta .

Life

Célestine Ouezzin Coulibaly was born between 1910 and 1914 as Macoucou Traoré in the region of Banfora in the southwest of what is now Burkina Faso , formerly known as Upper Volta. After completing school, she trained as a teacher. In 1930 she married Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly and took the name Célestine when she was baptized in 1931.

She was heavily involved in the anti-French resistance movement Rassemblement Démocratique Africain in the Ivory Coast and Upper Volta and founded the women's movement of the RDA. In 1948 she was elected general secretary of the women's movement. In her role as a resistance fighter, she led a protest march of 1,500 women on December 24, 1949, who demanded the release of their men who had previously been arrested by the French colonial power. Together with fellow campaigners such as Anne-Marie Rachi , Marguérite Sacoum , Odette Yacé and Marie Koré , Coulibaly is considered one of the pioneers of Ivorian independence.

Before Obervolta gained independence in 1960, she was appointed Minister for Social Affairs, Housing and Labor for the West African on October 24, 1958. She is therefore - probably - the first female minister in the French colony of West Africa. In 1959 she had to give up the department again and became the first female member of the parliament of Upper Volta. On April 30, 1959, she was also elected as a member of the Senate to represent Upper Volta. She was represented in the Committee on Transport and Communication and held the mandate until March 16, 1961.

Nothing is known about her death.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Nous, les femmes voltaïques . In: Esi Sutherland-Addy, Aminata Diaw (ed.): Des femmes écrivent l'Afrique: L'Afrique de l'Ouest et le Sahel . Karthala, 2007, ISBN 978-2-84586-853-3 , pp. 325 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Ouezzin Coulibaly . In: Kathleen Sheldon (Ed.): Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa . Scarecrow Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-8108-5331-7 , pp. 228 .
  3. ^ Lydia Rouamba, Francine Descarries: Les femmes dans le pouvoir exécutif au Burkina Faso (1957–2009) . In: Femmes et pouvoir politique . tape 23 , no. 1 , 2010, ISSN  0838-4479 , p. 99-122 ( available online ).
  4. ↑ OUEZZIN-COULIBALY Célestine - Ancien sénateur de la Communauté. Sénat.fr, accessed on November 4, 2016 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Ouezzin Coulibaly, Celestine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ouezzin Coulibaly-Traoré, Makoukou Célestine (full name); Macoucou Traoré
BRIEF DESCRIPTION anti-colonial resistance fighter, women's rights activist and later politician in French West Africa
DATE OF BIRTH between 1910 and 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Banfora region, Upper Volta
DATE OF DEATH 20th century or 21st century