Micheline Coulibaly was born in 1950 and passed away on March 19, 2003. She was a writer from Ivory Coast who created short stories and books written for children.

Biography

Coulibaly’s father was from Ivory Coast, and her mother was from Vietnam. Her mother was a widow and a businesswoman. They met in Saigon during World War II, where her father was serving with the French army. Coulibaly’s maternal grandfather was a Mandarin, and she was part of the large Tra-Bi family. Coulibaly was born in Xuân Lai, Vietnam, and her first language was Vietnamese. The family moved to Ivory Coast in 1956, where she lived for nearly 40 years. Coulibaly earned a degree in public relations and began working at a computer company in Abidjan in 1974. In 1980, she was named Head of Purchasing and Supplies. In the early 1990s, she was a member of the Association des Écrivains de Côte d'Ivoire. Coulibaly left Ivory Coast in 1993 after her husband received a job offer in Mexico. She became a stay-at-home mother, which she found challenging at first but later believed helped strengthen family bonds. The family stayed in Mexico for six years until June 1999, when her husband accepted a job in Dubai. They moved to Dubai with their youngest daughter in 2001.

Mé, the main character in Les Larmes de cristal, was inspired by Coulibaly’s mother, who lived with her in Abidjan in the early 1990s. In 1995, Coulibaly received an honorable mention in the José Martí Foundation’s International Competition for Children’s Literature.

Coulibaly met her husband, Lacina, at university. He was from Ivory Coast. The couple had three daughters: Mariame, Sandra, and Kandidia. In 2003, Coulibaly died from illness while visiting her oldest daughter in Houston, United States, where she was studying.