Henri Lopes was born on September 12, 1937, and passed away on November 2, 2023. He was a writer, diplomat, and politician from the Republic of the Congo. From 1973 to 1975, he served as the Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville. He worked as the country's Ambassador to France from 1998 until 2016.

Early life and education

Lopes was born on September 12, 1937, across the Congo River in Léopoldville (now called Kinshasa), which is the capital of the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He attended primary school in Brazzaville and Bangui, cities in the Central African Republic. In 1949, he moved to France to continue his education in high school and college. While in France, he was part of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Black African Students and served as President of the Association of Congolese Students from 1957 to 1965. After returning to Congo in 1965, he taught history at the École normale supérieure d'Afrique Centrale in Brazzaville from 1965 to 1966. He later worked as Director-General of Education from 1966 to 1968.

Political and diplomatic career

Under President Marien Ngouabi, Lopes became the Minister of National Education in January 1969. He held this position until December 1971, when he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In December 1972, Lopes was added to the five-member Political Bureau of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). Later, he served as Prime Minister from 1973 to 1975. In early 1975, Lopes visited China but could not meet with Chairman Mao Zedong because Mao was sick. Lopes and his government resigned after a meeting of the PCT Central Committee in December 1975. Louis Sylvain Goma was chosen to take his place.

From 1975 to 1977, Lopes worked as the political director of the party newspaper Etumba. On April 5, 1977, he returned to the government as the Minister of Finance. He held this role until December 1980, when Justin Lekoundzou was appointed to replace him. After that, Lopes worked at UNESCO as Assistant Director-General for Culture and Deputy Director-General for Africa from 1981 to 1998.

On October 26, 1998, Lopes submitted his credentials as Congo-Brazzaville’s Ambassador to France. While stationed in Paris, he was also officially recognized as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Vatican City.

In 2002, Lopes ran for the position of Secretary-General of the international organization La Francophonie. However, he withdrew his name after pressure the night before the vote. The vote took place on October 20, 2002, and Senegal’s Abdou Diouf was elected unanimously.

In mid-2015, it was reported that Lopes planned to retire from his role as Ambassador to France. He left this position later that year.

As a writer

In addition to his work in politics and diplomacy, Lopes was also an author. His most well-known book is the humorous novel Le Pleurer-rire ("The Laughing Cry," 1982). Other books he wrote include the short-story collection Tribaliques ("Tribaliks," 1971), as well as the novels La Nouvelle romance (1975) and Sans tam-tam (1977). His final novel, Le Méridional (2015), was described as a strong and accurate description of the life of an African man living in France, written by an author with a life similar to Lopes’s own.

The book Tribaliques won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1972. In 1993, Lopes was honored with the Grand prix de la francophonie by the Académie française for all of his writing.

In November 2015, Lopes gave the main speech at the 22nd International African Writers' Day Conference, held in Accra, Ghana, by the Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA). The event focused on celebrating the life and works of Chinua Achebe and the growth of African literature. During the conference, Lopes was awarded Honorary Membership of PAWA, along with other honored individuals such as the late Kwame Nkrumah, Emeritus Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, Dr. Margaret Busby, James Currey, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, and Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee.

Lopes also wrote the lyrics for "Les Trois Glorieuses," which was the national anthem of the People's Republic of the Congo from 1970 to 1991.

In 2018, Lopes published his memoir titled Il est déjà demain ("It is Already Tomorrow").

Selected bibliography

• Il est déjà demain. Published by JC Lattès in Paris, 2018. ISBN 978-2709660624
• Le Méridional. Published by Gallimard, 2015. ISBN 978-2070148271
• Une enfant de Poto-Poto. Published by Gallimard, 2012. ISBN 978-2070136087
• Ma grand-mère bantoue et mes ancêtres les Gaulois. Simples discours. Published by Gallimard in Paris. ISBN 978-2070715879
• Le Lys et le Flamboyant. Published by Seuil in Paris, 1997. ISBN 978-2020200967
• Le chercheur d’Afriques. Published by Seuil in Paris, 1990. ISBN 978-2020849609
• Le Pleurer-rire. Published by Présence Africaine, 1982. ISBN 978-2708704046. Translated into English by G. Moore and published as The Laughing Cry: An African Cock and Bull Story by Readers International, 1987. ISBN 978-0930523336
• Sans tam-tam. Published by CLE, 1977. ISBN 978-2723500135
• La Nouvelle romance. Published by CLE in Yaoundé, 1975. ISBN 978-2723604727
• Tribaliques. Published by CLE in Yaoundé, 1971. ISBN 978-2266012850. Translated into English as Tribaliks: Contemporary Congolese Stories by Heinemann African Writers Series, 1987. ISBN 978-0435907624

Selected awards

• 1972: Received the Grand Prize of African Literature for the book Tribaliques
• 1992: Received the Grand Prize of Francophone Literature
• 2002: Awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Paris XII and the Université Laval
• 2013: Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sonfoniah, Guinea
• 2015: Appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor