Joseph Ki-Zerbo

Joseph Ki-Zerbo (born June 21, 1922 in Toma , Upper Volta , today Burkina Faso , † December 4, 2006 in Ouagadougou ) was a historian and politician from the West African state of Burkina Faso. In France he studied history and politics at the Paris Sorbonne and at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris . He became a professor of history in Orléans and Paris, finally returned to Africa in 1957 and became politically active. From 1972 to 1978 he was Professor of African History at the University of Ouagadougou . In 1983 he had to go into exile in Senegal and was only able to return in 1992.

In 1994 he founded the social democratic party Parti pour la démocratie et le progrès / Parti socialiste (PDP / PS), for which he was a member of the Burkinabe parliament until August 2006 and which he chaired until 2005.

In 1997, Ki-Zerbo received the Right Livelihood Award for his work as a historian and for his analysis of African problems . Together with Adu Boahen from Ghana and KF Ade Ayaji from Nigeria, he was considered the most important black African historian.

Ki-Zerbo was a socialist and advocate for the independent development of Africa and the unity of the continent.

Works

Histoire de l'Afrique noire . Libraire Hatier, Paris 1978 ( The history of Black Africa . Wuppertal 1979 and Frankfurt am Main 1981)
Le monde africain noir . Libraire Hatier, Paris 1964

personal data
SURNAME	Ki-Zerbo, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	African historian and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	June 21, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH	Toma , Upper Volta
DATE OF DEATH	4th December 2006
Place of death	Ouagadougou