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Zakari Dramani-Issifou

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Zakari Dramani-Issifou
Zakari Dramani-Issifou in 2020
Born(1940-08-22)August 22, 1940
Djougou, Benin
NationalityBeninese, French
Occupation(s)Poet, writer, historian, academic

Zakari Dramani-Issifou – also known as Bazini Zakari Dramani – (born August 22, 1940, in Djougou, Benin) is a poet, writer, historian, and academic of Beninese and French nationality. He also serves as a consultant for UNESCO in pedagogy and didactics. He has contributed to the writing of the General History of Africa in eight volumes, under the auspices of UNESCO.[1]

Biography

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Dramani-Issifou was born on August 22, 1940, in Djougou, where he attended primary school. He continued his secondary education at Victor Ballot High School in Porto-Novo.[2]

He pursued higher education at the University of Dakar, but was arrested in 1963 following a student movement, and subsequently released. He left Senegal to avoid further arrest and settled in France, in Caen, where he resumed his studies in history and geography.[2]

In 1975, he defended a postgraduate thesis in history entitled Les relations entre le Maroc et l'empire Sonrhaï dans la seconde moitié du 16th century at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes.[3]

He also taught at Jean Rostand High School in Caen and was a member of the Center for Research in African Civilization (CERASA). He was a lecturer at the National University of Benin (1978–1986) and later at the University of Paris VIII (1983–1990, 1993–1994).[2]

In addition, he collaborated on numerous scientific works, such as the General History of Africa in eight volumes, under the auspices of UNESCO. He authored Chapter 4 of Volume III, "Islam as a Social System in Africa since the 7th century".[1]

Publications

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Literary works

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  • Le nouveau cri, 1965 (poetry)
  • Récidive (mots pour maux), Le Dé bleu, 1985 (poetry)
  • Les dires de l'arbre-mémoire : voix initiatiques, 1999 (poetry)
  • Le fil à couper le cœur (short story, based on a painting by Alain Letort), based on an investigation by Harry Dickson, Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2002, 21 p.
  • Convergences en 10. Dialogue écrivain-peintre, 10 texts by Z. Dramani-Issifou and 10 inks by Françoise Lelouch-Cochet, Dozulé, Les Éditions du Chameau, Plum’Art Collection, No. 10, 2005.
  • "Le souffle de l'arbre fétiche de Cewelxa", story in Carnet d’esquisses, Dozulé, Les Éditions du Chameau, 2007, p. 13-23.
  • De la Métaphore au Manifeste, bilingual Spanish/French text for the public presentation of "Africa Genitrix", Santo Domingo, 15 June 2015, 4 p.

Academic works and publications

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  • Dramani-Issifou, Zakari (1981). "Routes de commerce et mise en place des populations du Nord du Bénin actuel". Publications de la Société française d'histoire des outre-mers. 5 (2): 655–672.
  • L'Afrique noire dans les relations internationales au 16th century, Karthala, 1982 (revised text of thesis)
  • "Le champ sémantique de l'ethnicité chez Ahmed Baba dans le Mi'raj al-Suhud (XVIe – XVIIe siècles)", in Les Ethnies ont une histoire, Chrétien (J.-P) and Prunier (G.), eds., Paris, Karthala, 1989
  • "L'Histoire inhumaine. Massacres, génocide, des origines à nos jours", Le continent africain, chapter 14, Paris, Armand Colin, 1992
  • Les Songhay, dimension historique, in Les Vallées du Niger, Scientific Catalog of the National Museum of African and Oceanic Arts, Paris, Éditions de la Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1993
  • "Rapport sur l’utilisation des ouvrages de l’Histoire Générale de l’Afrique (UNESCO, 8 volumes) à des fins pédagogiques": in International Scientific Committee for the Research of an African History – Last plenary session April 10–13 April 1999, Tripoli (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya).
  • "Djougou : Commerce international et multi-culturalité. Un essai d’histoire sociale et culturelle de Zougou-Wangara du XIVe à l’aube du XXIe siècle" for the journal Interfaces, December 1999 – 39 pages N

Distinctions

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1981: Poetry Prize – Ministry of Culture of Benin for the collection Le Soleil à travers les Palmes. In 1986, he was honored by the French Academy with the bronze medal of the Grand Poetry Prize for Récidive (Mots pour Maux[4]). In 1999, he was appointed Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters[5] by the French Republic. 2005: National Poetry Prize – Poètes et Artistes du Bourbonnais for the collection Le Nouveau Cri. Prize for the collection Les Dires de l’Arbre Mémoire.

References

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  1. ^ a b General History of Africa – Volume III – Africa from the VIIe to the XIe Century, afrolivresque.com, February 14, 2016 [1]
  2. ^ a b c "Zakari Dramani-Issifou" (Le Bénin littéraire 1980-1999)
  3. ^ Fiche SUDOC
  4. ^ Académie française website
  5. ^ "La souffrance est une école de sagesse à Paris". vraivrai-films.fr (in French). 20 November 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

Further reading

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  • Jahn, Janheinz; Schild, Ulla; Seiler, Almut Nordmann (1972). Who's who in African literature: biographies, works, commentaries. Tübingen: Horst Erdmann. p. 114. ISBN 3-7711-0153-0.
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