Fodéba Keïta
| Fodéba Keïta | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Defense | |
| In office 1961 – ? |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 19, 1921 Siguiri, Guinea |
| Died | May 27, 1969 Guinea |
| Nationality | Guinean |
| Occupation | Dancer, musician, writer, playwright, composer and politician |
Fodéba Keïta (January 19, 1921 in Siguiri – May 27, 1969 at Camp Boiro) was a Guinean dancer, musician, writer, playwright, composer and politician. Founder of the first professional African theatrical troupe, Theatre Africain,[1] he also arranged Liberté, the national anthem of Guinea.
Early years
Keïta was the son of a male nurse.[2] He received his early education at the École normale supérieure William Ponty.[3]
Career
During his law studies in Paris in 1948, he founded the band Sud Jazz. Beginning in the late 1940s, he founded Théâtre Africain (later Les Ballets Africains),[4] a successful ballet group which toured Africa for six years and later became the national dance company of Guinea; then president of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor held it in high esteem.[5] With Kanté Facély and Les Ballets Africains, he became instrumental in showcasing previously unknown Mandé performance traditions to other continents as well.[6]
After returning to Guinea, he published the poetry collection Poèmes africains (1950),[3] the novel Le Maître d'école (1952), and in 1957, Keïta wrote and staged the narrative poem Aube africaine ("African Dawn")[7] as a theatre-ballet based on the shooting by French troops of protesting Africans who had served in the French army during World War II.[4] However, his works were banned in French Africa as he was considered radical and anticolonial.[3]
Politically active in the African Democratic Rally, Keïta worked closely with Guinea's first president Sékou Touré from 1956, and in 1957 was elected to the Territorial Assembly.[8] In 1961, Keïta was appointed minister for defense and security. He uncovered alleged plots against Sékou Touré, but was imprisoned in the infamous Camp Boiro, a prison he himself helped construct,[9] for alleged complicity in the February 1969 Labé Plot,[3] and was subjected to torture ("diète noire" – complete food and fluid withdrawal).
On May 27, 1969, he was shot dead without trial.[10][11]
Gallery
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Fotothek df roe-neg 0006215 004 Auftritt eines afrikanischen Ensembles unter der.jpg
An ensemble directed by Fodéba Keïta performing in Germany (1951)
References
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- ↑ African and Afro-American Studies and Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, 2001 "Research in African literatures, Volume 32"
- ↑ Janheinz Jahn, Ulla Schild, Almut Nordmann Seiler "Who's who in African literature: biographies, works, commentaries" H. Erdmann, 1972, ISBN 3-7711-0153-0,
- Iffono, Aly Gilbert: Lexique historique de la Guinée-Conakry, l'Harmattan, Paris, 1992.
External links
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Guinean politicians
- Guinean dancers
- Guinean composers
- Guinean dramatists and playwrights
- Choreographers
- People from Siguiri
- 1921 births
- 1969 deaths
- People executed by Guinea by firearm
- Guinean people executed by firearm
- Guinean poets
- Guinean novelists
- 20th-century dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century novelists
- 20th-century poets
- 20th-century composers
