Ahmadou Kourouma, (November 24, 1927 – December 11, 2003) was an Ivorian novelist. November 24 is the 328th day (329th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursued studies in Bamako, Mali. From 1950 to 1954, when his country was still under French colonial control, he participated in French military campaigns in Indochina, after which he journeyed to France to study mathematics in Lyon. The Malinké are an African Mandé ethnic group. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bamako, population 953,600 (2004), is the capital of Mali. ... Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Southeast Asia. ...

Kourouma returned to his native Côte d'Ivoire after it won its independence in 1960, yet he quickly found himself questioning the government of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. After brief imprisonment, Kourouma spent several years in exile, first in Algeria (1964-1969), then in Cameroon (1974-1984) and Togo (1984-1994), before finally returning to live in Côte d'Ivoire. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Félix Houphouët-Boigny (fālÄ“ks´ oofwā´-bwä´nye) (October 18, 1905 - December 7, 1993) was the first President of Côte dIvoire (1960 - 1993). ...

Determined to speak out against the betrayal of legitimate African aspirations at the dawn of independence, Kourouma was drawn into an experiment in fiction, his first novel, Les soleils des indépendances (The Suns of Independence, 1970). Les soleils des indépendances contains a critical treatment of post-colonial governments in Africa. Twenty years later, his second book Monnè, outrages et défis, a history of a century of colonialism, was published. In 1994, he published En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages, the story of a tribal hunter's transformation into a dictator, inspired by president Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo. In 2000, he published Allah n'est pas obligé (Allah Doesn't Have To, a tale of an orphan who becomes a child soldier when traveling to visit his aunt in Liberia. The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Dictator was the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. ... Gnassingbé Eyadéma - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

At the outbreak of civil war in Côte d'Ivoire in 2002, Kourouma stood against the war as well as against the concept of Ivorian nationalism, calling it "an absurdity which has led us to chaos." President Laurent Gbagbo accused him of supporting rebel groups from the north of the country. 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Laurent Koudou Gbagbo (born May 31, 1945) is the president of Côte dIvoire (since 2000). ...

In France, each of Ahmadou Kourouma's novels has been greeted with great acclaim, sold exceptionally well, and been showered with prizes including Prix Renaudot in year 2000. In the English-speaking world, Kourouma has yet to make much of an impression: despite some positive reviews, he remains largely unknown outside college classes in African fiction. The prix Renaudot (also called prix Théophraste Renaudot) is is a literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the prix Goncourt. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day...

Bibliography

• The Suns of Independence - novel, 1968 (Les soleils des indépendances, trans. Adrian Adams, 1981)
• Le diseur de vérité - drama, 1972 (first published 1998)
• Monnew - novel, 1990 (Monnè, trans. Nidra Poller, 1993)
• Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote novel, 1998 (En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages) translated by Frank Wynne (2003)
• Yacouba, chasseur africain - children's novel, 1998
• Allah n'est pas obligé - novel, 2000 translated by Frank Wynne (2005)