text: Seminars should be conducted for teachers to improve their teaching styles. The dignity of a student should be accepted by everyone. Drug addiction, copying, violence etc. should be curtailed. State Commissions of Protection of Child Rights should be established.


title: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

text: (1) Shanta Sinha (2007–2013)https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Shantha-Sinha-gets-second-term-as-NCPCR-chairperson/article16300050.ece


text: (4) Priyank Kanoongo (2018–Incumbent) 2021 https://www.indianmandarins.com/news/kanoongo-is-chairperson,-ncpcr/16956


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film based on Tom Robbins' 1976 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Gus Van Sant (credited as Gus Van Sant Jr.) and starred an ensemble cast led by Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, Angie Dickinson, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Keanu Reeves, John Hurt, and Rain Phoenix. Robbins himself was the narrator. The soundtrack was sung entirely by k.d. lang. The film was dedicated to the late River Phoenix.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Sissy Hankshaw is a woman born with a mutation (she would not call it a defect) giving her enormously large thumbs. Sissy makes the most of her thumbs by becoming a hitchhiker. Her travels eventually take her to New York City, where she becomes a model for a homosexual feminine hygiene products mogul, known as "The Countess". A few years later, he introduces her to his "beauty ranch", the Rubber Rose Ranch. The main plot revolves around the cowgirls who work at the ranch after they violently take over and drug the endangered whooping cranes that nest along the lake on their land, making the once migratory birds stay. The cowgirls end up in a showdown with government agencies because the cranes will not leave the ranch and the cowgirls refuse to allow the men on the ranch to take the cranes. Sissy and the ranch leader, Bonanza Jellybean, have a brief love affair. After a fatal shootout between the cowgirls and the various agencies, the cranes leave, and Sissy takes over running the ranch.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Though some viewers claim that River Phoenix is visible in a brief cameo near the end of the film, director Gus Van Sant, costar Udo Kier, and Phoenix's own assistant at the time, Sue Solgot, have all asserted that Phoenix was not in the film. Van Sant further states, "River wasn't even in the desert when we shot. That is Jim Baldwin in the beekeeper's hat."


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: The film was a critical and commercial failure. After its world premiere in September 1993 at the 1993 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was set to open, but due to the negative response, it was delayed for more editing. The picture opened in wide release on May 20, 1994, and grossed a mere $1,708,873 against an estimated $8 million budget.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of . On Metacritic the film has a score of 28% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin said "The novel was hopelessly dated, and there is not enough peyote in the entire American Southwest to render this movie comprehensible "or" endurable...K.D. Lang's [sic] score is the picture's sole worthy component."


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club called it "forgettable" and "tedious", and "It was god-awful. Unwatchable, almost."


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: Richard F. Weingroff of Federal Highway Administration said "Forget it - skip this lousy movie and read the novel by Tom Robbins."<ref name=".gov/public-roads/summer-1996/road-movies"></ref>


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: The film was released on Region 1 DVD on November 2, 2004, containing its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and on NTSC LaserDisc by Image Entertainment on November 4, 2004, also in its original aspect ratio.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: It received a second DVD release in the United States from UCA on April 6, 2010, now in a new cropped 1.78:1 widescreen version.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: In 2007, the film received its first DVD release in the UK from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in a 1.33:1 full frame version.


title: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

text: The soundtrack was released on November 2, 1993 by Sire Records. k.d. lang performed the music. The album was composed by lang and Ben Mink. The soundtrack went top 10 in Australia and top five in New Zealand (numbers 10 and four, respectively), and also peaked at number 82 on the "Billboard" 200 in the United States.


title: Knightriders

text: Knightriders is a 1981 American drama film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, and Christine Forrest. It was filmed entirely on location in the Pittsburgh metro area, including Fawn Township and Natrona during the summer of 1980.


title: Knightriders

text: The film represents a change of pace for Romero, known primarily for his horror films; it is a personal drama about a traveling renaissance fair troupe.


title: Knightriders

text: Billy leads a traveling troupe that jousts on motorcycles. "King William", as he styles himself, tries to lead the troupe according to his Arthurian ideals. However, the constant pressure of balancing those ideals against the modern day realities and financial pressures of running the organization are beginning to strain the group. Billy is also plagued by a recurring dream of a black bird. Tensions are exacerbated by Billy's constantly pushing himself despite being injured and the arrival of a promoter named Bontempi, who wants to represent the troupe.


title: Knightriders

text: After Billy spends a night in jail watching a member of his troupe beaten because Billy has refused a payoff to a corrupt local cop, Billy returns to the fairground where the troupe is next to perform and is shocked that some members want to join with the promoter. His sense of betrayal is heightened when his queen, Linet, admits that her feelings for him may not be the reason she remains with the troupe.


title: Knightriders

text: Things come to a head after Morgan, leader of the dissident faction who believes he should be king, wins the day's tournament and a fight breaks out between the troupe and rowdy members of the crowd. Billy faces an Indian rider with a black eagle crest on his breast plate, the black bird of his dreams. Billy defeats the Indian but aggravates his injury; later commissioning the Indian as a knight in his troupe. Morgan and several other riders leave the troupe to follow Bontempi. Billy's loyal supporter Alan also departs with his new girlfriend Julie and friend Bors to try to sort out his emotions. Billy and the remainder of the troupe settle at the fairground to await the dissidents' return.


title: Knightriders

text: Troupe member Pippin comes to terms with his homosexuality and finds love with Punch. Alan's girlfriend, Julie, has run away from home to escape her alcoholic and abusive father and her weak-willed mother. While Alan is soul searching, he realizes Julie is using him as an escape and that he really desires Billy's Queen Linet. Alan takes a confused and hurt Julie home to her parents.


title: Knightriders

text: Meanwhile, Morgan's riders succumb to infighting. Alan finds Morgan and helps him realize that there can only be one king and he sees about signing with Bontempi. However, after seeing rowdy drunken behavior in his friends, Morgan and his riders return to Billy's fair to challenge for the crown. Billy announces his retirement and sets forth the rules: all knights compete, and any man knocked off his motorcycle is out. Morgan is victorious, and is crowned king by Billy. Angie, the troupe's mechanic, is then crowned queen by Morgan, after he realizes she is the woman he loves. Linet finds love with Alan.


title: Knightriders

text: Billy leaves the troupe, accompanied by the silent eagle-crested knight, and returns to thrash the crooked cop. While riding again, Billy, weak and hallucinatory from loss of blood from his injury, has a vision of riding an actual horse. Immediately afterwards he is struck by an oncoming truck. The entire troupe gathers at Billy's funeral to say farewell to its fallen king.


title: Knightriders

text: A labor of love, the film was initially conceived as a proper period piece which would portray the Middle Ages in a more realistic fashion. it was rethought after Romero's experience working on racing documentaries.


title: Knightriders

text: Romero has claimed the medieval hobbyist organization, the Society for Creative Anachronism, to be one inspiration for the film. It was the first of three films financed and released through United Film Distribution.


title: Knightriders

text: A shorter cut of the film (running 102 minutes) was released in Europe. In the movie's credits, the writer Stephen King is referred to as "Hoagie man," as he makes a few sarcastic comments during the troupe's first performance while munching on a large sandwich.


title: Knightriders

text: Christopher John reviewed "Knightriders" in "Ares Magazine" #9 and commented that "[with] the exceptional soundtrack, excellent photography, sharp writing, directing and editing, let alone the performances of a well trained cast, it is worth the time and effort to see "Knightriders". It is the best movie of 1981 so far."


title: Knightriders

text: Tony Williams, in his book "The Cinema of George A. Romero", said "Knightriders is a highly personal and sincere film revealing Romero's Utopian ideals in a cinematically allegorical manner. Although flawed by its long running time and some over-emphatic dialogue scenes, it is nonetheless one of the directors's major achievements which deserves better recognition.


title: Knightriders

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Knightriders" holds an approval rating of 77%, based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 6.16/10.


title: Jose Pablo Cantillo

text: Jose Pablo Cantillo (born March 30, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Ricky Verona in "Crank", Miguel in "Cleaner" (2007), Pepe in "Streets of Blood" (2011), Detective Martinez in "El Chicano" (2018), Hector Salazar in FX's "Sons of Anarchy", Caesar Martinez in AMC's "The Walking Dead", Duff in "Standoff", and Dave in "Taken" (2017).


title: Jose Pablo Cantillo

text: The son of Costa Rican parents, Roberto Cantillo and Rita Bolaños, Jose Pablo Cantillo (known as "Joey" in his high school days) was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana and attended Terre Haute South Vigo High School where he was a tennis standout for all four years, leading the Terre Haute South Braves to a State Runner-Up finish in 1996. He graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2003 with a double major in marketing and finance from the Kelley School of Business.


title: Jose Pablo Cantillo

text: Cantillo decided to pursue an acting career in New York City after taking some drama classes at IU. In late 2003, he moved to California.


title: Jose Pablo Cantillo

text: After acting in Off-Broadway plays in New York, Cantillo has landed guest roles on popular television series since early 2000. He played a recurring role in "The Walking Dead" as Caesar Martinez, and roles in two of Neill Blomkamp's films, the science fiction action thriller "Elysium" (2013) and "Chappie" (2015). In 2019, he played the role of Detective Martinez in the "Latino superhero movie" "El Chicano".


title: Jose Pablo Cantillo

text: In late 2003, Cantillo moved to California with his wife Kristi and their 7-year-old daughter. They live in Santa Clarita, a town that Cantillo described to an interviewer as “kind of reminds us of Terre Haute”, his hometown.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: Kapaleeshwarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to lord Shiva located in Mylapore, Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The form of Shiva's consort Parvati worshipped at this temple is called Karpagambal is from Tamil ("Goddess of the Wish-Yielding Tree"). The temple was built around the 7th century CE and is an example of Dravidian architecture.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: According to the Puranas, Shakti worshipped Shiva in the form of a peacock, giving the vernacular name "Mylai" () to the area that developed around the temple – "mayil" is Tamil for "peacock". Shiva is worshiped as Kapaleeswarar, and is represented by the "lingam". His consort Parvati is depicted as Karpagambal. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th-century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the "Tevaram", written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars and classified as "Paadal Petra Sthalam".


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and four yearly festivals on its calendar. The Arubathimoovar festival celebrated during the Tamil month of "Panguni" as part of the ப்ரஹ்மோத்சவம் is the most prominent festival in the temple.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The temple's name is derived from the words "kapāla" (head) and "Īśvara" an alias of lord Shiva. According to the Puranas, during the meeting of Brahma and Shiva at top of Mount Kailash Brahma failed to show the due respect to Shiva. Due to this, Shiva plucked of one of Brahma's heads ("kapalams"). In an act of penance, Brahma came down to the site of Mylapore and installed a Lingam to please Shiva. This place is known as Sukra Puri, Veda Puri, among many other names including "Kailaye Mayilai and Mayilaye Kayilai "which means this place is equal to kailash. Goddess Karpagambal, a form of Shiva's consort Parvati, due to a curse became a pea-hen and did penance here to get back her original personality. Shiva's son Murugan received the spear (Sakthi Vel) for the destruction of a demon from Parvati here. Brahma had worshipped here to get rid of his ego and get back his power to create. The four Vedas have worshipped here. Sukracharya worshipped the Lord here and got back his lost eye. Rama has worshipped here and won the war against Ravana and brought back Sita from Lanka. The daughter of Sivanesa Chettiar Angam Poompavai got her lost life due to snake bite was later resurrected here by the powers of Thirugnana Sambandar. Vayilar Nayanar, a saiva saint, attained salvation here and Mylapore is also the birth place of Thiruvalluvar who wrote the Thirukkural. In Thevaram special mention is made about the beautiful Madaveedhi as "Malgun Mathri Thavazhum Maada Veedhi Mylappil Ullar". Thiruganana Sambandar, Arunagirinathar have sung the glory of Karpagambal, Singara Velar. The 10-day festival during March / April is a treat to watch and Arubathu Moovar festival is attended by lakhs of devotees every year.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The commonly held view is that the temple was built in the 7th century CE by the ruling Pallavas. This view is based on references to the temple in the hymns of the Nayanars (which, however, place it by a sea shore). Thirugnanasambandar's 6th song in Poompavaipathikam and Arunagirinathar's 697th song in Thirumylai Thirupugazh, make clear reference to the Kapaleeswarar temple being located by a seashore. There are inscriptions dating back to 12th century inside the temple. The temple's 120 ft "gopuram" (gateway tower) was built during 1906 with stucco figures adorning it. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The Kapaleeshwarar temple is of typical Dravidian architectural style, with the "gopuram" overpowering the street on which the temple sits. This temple is also a testimonial for the vishwakarmas sthapathis. There are two entrances to the temple marked by the "gopuram" on either side. The east "gopuram" is about 40 m high, while the smaller western gopuram faces the sacred tank.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The "vahana"s (Sanskrit for "vehicles") at the temple include the bull, Adhikaranandi, elephant, bandicoot, peacock, goat and parrot, while a golden chariot is a recent addition. Statues of the god and the goddess are seated on a "vahana" or chariot which is brought in a procession around the temple while the temple band plays music. Devotees gather around the "vahanas" and consider it a privilege to pull / lift the God and the Goddess on the "vahana". There is also a peacock and a peahen caged inside the temple, to symbolize the tradition that Karpagambal had come in the form of peahen to plead to Kapaleeshwarar.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: This temple is one of the Sapta Sthana Shiva temples in Mylapore area. (one of the seven sacred Shiva temples in Mylapore). They are:


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The "theppakulam" or the temple tank lies to the west of the temple. Also known as the Kapaleeshwarar Tank or the Mylapore Tank, it is one of the oldest and well-maintained theppakulams in the city, measuring about 190 m in length and 143 m in breadth. The tank has a storage capacity of 119,000 cubic metre and has water all through the year. The 16-pillared, granite-roofed structure, known as the "mandapam" at the centre of this tank is known for its significance during the three-day annual float festival, when idols of Lord Kapaleeshwarar and other deities are taken around the tank to the chanting of Vedic hymns.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The temple priests perform the "pooja" (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite community. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:00 a.m., Kalasanthi at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 1:00 p.m., Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 7:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 9:00 p.m. There is a separate calendar for the Rahu Abhishekam (sacred ablution): it is performed twice in a day at 11:30 a.m and 5:30 p.m. and additionally twice at various times in the day. Each ritual comprises four steps: "abhisheka" (sacred bath), "alangaram" (decoration), "neivethanam" (food offering) and "deepa aradanai" (waving of lamps) for both Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal. The worship is held amidst music with "nagaswaram" (pipe instrument) and "tavil" (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred text) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly rituals like ' and ', fortnightly rituals like "pradosham" and monthly festivals like "amavasai" (new moon day), "kiruthigai", "pournami" (full moon day) and "sathurthi". During Friday worship, the statue of the goddess Karpagambal is decorated with a "kaasu maala", a garland made of gold coins.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: During the Tamil month of "Panguni", the traditional brahmotsavam (annual festival) takes place when the entire neighborhood comes alive with a "mela (carnival)"-like atmosphere. Since this month corresponds to the mid-March to mid-April duration, the Kapaleeshwarar temple celebrates the nine day-long as "Panguni Peruvizha" (Spring festival). The festival starts with "Dwajarohanam" (flag hoisting), includes the "therotsavam", (Tamil, "ther", "car/chariot"; "utsavam", "festival"), Arupathimoovar festival and concludes with the Tirukkalyanam (Marriage of Kapaleeswarar & Karpagambal). In "Brahmotsavam", the idols of Kapaleeshwarar and Karpagambal are decorated with clothes and jewels, are mounted on a "vahana", and then taken around the temple and its water tank in a "pradakshinam" (a clockwise path when seen from above). This is repeated with different "vahanas" over the next nine days. The more important of the individual "pradakshinams" are the "Athigara Nandhi" on the third day, the "Rishaba Vahanam" on the midnight of the fifth day, the "ther" (about 13 meters in height and pulled by people) on the seventh morning, and the "Arupathimoovar" festival on the eighth day.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: The "Arupathimoovar" festival is the most important procession. It is named after the sixty-three "Nayanmar"s who have attained salvation by their love & devotion to the all-compassionate Lord Shiva. All sixty-three Nayanmar idols follow the Kapaleeshwarar idol on this procession. During the car festival, Kapaleeshwarar is depicted holding a bow while seated on a throne, with his wife Karpagambal alongside. Brahma is depicted riding the "ther". The chariot is decorated with flowers and statues, and there are huge gatherings of devotees to pull the "ther". The car festival of 1968 is documented in the documentary film "Phantom India" by Louis Malle.


title: Kapaleeshwarar Temple

text: There is a reference to the temple in Sangam literature of the 1st to 5th centuries and the earliest post-Sangam mention is found in the 6th century Tamil literature. The temple and the deity were immortalized in Tamil poetry in the works of "Tevaram" by poet saint belonging to the 7th century – Thirugnana Sambanthar has composed the 6th "Poompavai pathigam" in praise of the temple. Arunagirinathar, a 15th-century poet, sings praise of the temple in "Tirumayilai Tirupugazh". The 12th-century poet Gunaveera Pandithar sings about Neminathan under "Theerthangar neminathar pugazh". "Tirumayilai Prabanthangal" is a compilation of four works on the temple and the deity.


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: Hengdian World Studios () is a film studio located in Hengdian, a Chinese town in the city of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the largest film studios in the world. The movie studio is operated by the privately owned Hengdian Group


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: founded by Xu Wenrong. Xu turned acres of farmland in central Zhejiang into one of the largest movie studios in Asia. Construction began in the mid-1990s and has been ongoing ever since with the possible recent addition of the replica of the Old Summer Palace. A film about extras working at the studio, "I Am Somebody", was released in China in 2015.


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: The studio’s sets are free for film crews; the studio makes returns on the hotels, restaurants, equipment and costumes.


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: The studio consists of 30 outdoor shooting bases and 130 indoor studio sets, with a total area of up to 330 ha. and building areas of 495,995 square meters. In addition to its huge scale, the studio also has several records which includes:


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: One of the studio's largest buildings is the Imperial Palace Building built in the Early Chinese Dynasty style in the Qin and Han periods. That area is still frequently used to shoot movies based on these eras. The director Zhang Yimou used this building as the backdrop for the Emperor Qin's palace for his 2002 movie "Hero". A Hong Kong TVB drama serial titled "A Step into the Past" which tells the story of the First Qin Emperor also used the same building as the main backdrop. The studio was also used to film "The Forbidden Kingdom", the first on-screen collaboration between actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li. In addition, it was also used for the filming of the popular Korean drama serial "Empress Ki".


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: More than 1,200 movies and TV shows have been shot there, including Ang Lee's Oscar-winning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; the Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which is Hollywood co-produced using sets in the Studio; live-action Mulan (2020 film) released on Disney+ on September 4, 2020 in the US.


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: In 1996, Guangzhou Street Scenic Area, the first film and television shooting base, was built to shoot the gifted blockbuster Opium War by director Xie Jin.<br>


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: In 1997, the King of Qin Palace scienic spot was constructed for the production of the historical blockbuster Jing Ke stabbing the King of Qin.<br>


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: In 2004, Hengdian Film and Television Industry Experimental Zone was established as China's number one national film and television industry experimental zone.<br>


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: In additional to being a film studio, Hengdian World Studios has also become a tourist attraction, with many of its large sets opening to visitors.


title: Hengdian World Studios

text: It has been reported that around 70 percent of period Chinese television shows and films are being shot at Hengdian World Studios every year.


title: Substance intoxication

text: Substance intoxication is a transient condition of altered consciousness and behavior associated with recent use of a substance. It is often maladaptive and impairing, but reversible. If the symptoms are severe, the term "substance intoxication delirium" may be used.


title: Substance intoxication

text: Substance intoxication may often accompany a substance use disorder (SUD); if persistent substance-related problems exist, SUD is the preferred diagnosis.


title: Substance intoxication

text: The discussion over whether the coffee (caffeine) “buzz” counted as intoxication or not was hotly debated during the early to mid 16th century.


title: Substance intoxication

text: Contact high is a phenomenon that occurs in, otherwise sober, people who experience a drug-like effect just by coming into contact with someone who is under the influence of a psychoactive drug. In a similar way to the "placebo effect", a contact high may be caused by classical conditioning as well as by the physical and social


title: Substance intoxication

text: The term is often incorrectly used to describe the high obtained from passive inhalation of marijuana.


title: Substance intoxication

text: Slang terms include: getting "high" (generic), being "stoned", "cooked", or "blazed" (usually in reference to cannabis), and many more specific slang terms for particular intoxicants. Alcohol intoxication is graded in intensity from "buzzed", to "tipsy" (all the way up to "drunk", "hammered", "plastered", "smashed", "wasted", "destroyed", "shitfaced" and a number of other terms). The term "rolling" is a common word used to describe being under the influence of MDMA and for LSD the phrases "frying" or "tripping" have been used. “Tripping” is a term that is considered applicable to virtually all hallucinogens which includes psychedelics, dissociatives, deliriants and possibly certain types of hypnotics.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader and planter before being elected to the French Parliament. He served in several ministerial positions within the French government before leading Côte d'Ivoire following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonization of Africa.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Under Houphouët-Boigny's politically moderate leadership, Ivory Coast prospered economically. This success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became known as the "Ivorian miracle"; it was due to a combination of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the West (particularly France) and development of the country's significant coffee and cocoa industries. However, reliance on the agricultural sector caused difficulties in 1980, after a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and cocoa.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Throughout his presidency, Houphouët-Boigny maintained a close relationship with France, a policy known as Françafrique, and he built a close friendship with Jacques Foccart, the chief adviser on African policy in the de Gaulle and Pompidou regimes. He aided the conspirators who ousted Kwame Nkrumah from power in Ghana in 1966, took part in the failed coup against Mathieu Kérékou in Benin in 1977, was suspected of involvement in the 1987 coup d'état that removed Thomas Sankara from power in Burkina Faso and provided assistance to UNITA, a United States-supported, anti-communist rebel movement in Angola. Houphouët-Boigny maintained a strong anti-communist foreign policy, which resulted in, among other things, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1969 (after first establishing relations in 1967) and refusing to recognise the People's Republic of China until 1983. He re-established relations with the Soviet Union in 1986.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In the West, Houphouët-Boigny was commonly known as the "Sage of Africa" or the "Grand Old Man of Africa". Houphouët-Boigny moved the country's capital from Abidjan to his hometown of Yamoussoukro and built the world's largest church there, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, at a cost of US$300 million. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving leader in Africa's history and the third longest-serving leader in the world after Fidel Castro of Cuba and Kim Il-sung of North Korea. In 1989, UNESCO created the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for the "safeguarding, maintaining and seeking of peace". After his death, conditions in Côte d'Ivoire quickly deteriorated. Between 1994 and 2002, there were a number of coups, a devaluation of the CFA franc and an economic recession; a civil war began in 2002.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: According to his official biography, Houphouët-Boigny was probably born on 18 October 1908, in Yamoussoukro to a family of hereditary chiefs of the Baoulé people. Unofficial accounts, however, place his birth date up to seven years earlier. Born into the animist Akouès tribe, he was named Dia Houphouët: his first name "Dia" means "prophet" or "magician". His father was N'Doli Houphouët. Dia Houphouët was the great-nephew through his mother of Queen Yamousso and the village chief, Kouassi N'Go. When N'Go was murdered in 1910, Dia was named to succeed him as chief. Due to his young age, his stepfather Gbro Diby ruled as regent until Dia came of age; Dia's father had already died.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny descended from tribal chiefs through his mother, Kimou N'Dri (also known as N'Dri Kan). She died much later in 1936. Doubts remain as to the identity of his father, N'Doli. Officially a native of the N'Zipri of Didiévi tribe, N'Doli Houphouët died shortly after the birth of his son Augustin, although no reliable information regarding his death exists. Houphouët-Boigny had two elder sisters, Faitai (1898?–1998) and Adjoua (d. 1987), as well as a younger brother Augustin (d. 1939).


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The French colonial administration recognised tribal leaders; they arranged to have Houphouët go to school at the military post in Bonzi, not far from his village, in order to prepare for his future as a leader, despite strenuous objections from relatives, especially his great-aunt Queen Yamousso. In 1915, he was transferred to the "école primaire supérieure" (secondary) at Bingerville in spite of his family's reluctance to have him go to boarding school. The same year, at Bingerville, Houphouët converted to Christianity; he considered it a modern religion and an obstacle to the spread of Islam. He chose to be christened Félix.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: First in his class, Houphouët was accepted into the "École William Ponty" in 1919, and earned a teaching degree. In 1921, he attended the "École de médecine de l'AOF" (French West Africa School of Medicine) in French Senegal, where he came first in his class in 1925 and qualified as a medical assistant. As he never completed his studies in medicine, he could qualify only as a "médecin africain", a poorly paid doctor.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: On 26 October 1925, Houphouët began his career as a doctor's aide at a hospital in Abidjan, where he founded an association of indigenous medical personnel. This undertaking proved short-lived as the colonial administration viewed it unsympathetically, considering it a trade union. As a consequence, they decided to move Houphouët to a lesser hospital in Guiglo on 27 April 1927. After he proved his considerable talents, however, he was promoted on 17 September 1929 to a post in Abengourou, which until then had been reserved for Europeans. At Abengourou, Houphouët witnessed the mistreatment of indigenous cocoa farmers by the colonists.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In 1932, he decided to act, leading a movement of farmers against the influential white landowners and for the economic policies of the colonial government, who favoured the farmers. On 22 December, he published an article titled "On nous a trop volés" (They have stolen too much from us), in the "Trait d'union", an Ivorian socialist newspaper. It was published under a pseudonym.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The following year, Houphouët was called by his tribe to assume the responsibilities of village chief. Preferring to pursue his medical career, he relinquished the office to his younger brother Augustin. Wishing to live closer to his village, he obtained a transfer to Dimbokro on 3 February 1934 and then to Toumodi on 28 June 1936. While Houphouët had displayed professional qualities, his attitude had chafed those around him. As a result, in September 1938, his clinical director demanded that he choose between his job as a doctor and his involvement in local politics. The choice was quickly made for him: his brother died in 1939, and Houphouët became "chef de canton" (an office created by the colonial administration to collect taxes). Due to this, Houphouët ended his medical career the next year.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In 1930, Houphouët married Kady Racine Sow (1913–2006) in Abengourou; their union was controversial because he was a practising Catholic and she was the daughter of a wealthy Muslim from Senegal. The families of the two eventually overcame their opposition and accepted the interfaith union, the first ever celebrated in Côte d'Ivoire. The couple had five children: Felix (who died in infancy), Augustine, Francis, Guillaume and Marie, all raised as Catholics.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: By becoming "chef de canton", Houphouët assumed responsibility for the administration of Akouè, a canton which comprised 36 villages. He also took charge of the family plantation—at the time one of the most important in the country—and worked to diversify its rubber, cocoa and coffee crops. He soon became one of Africa's richest farmers. On 3 September 1944, he established, in cooperation with the colonial administration, the African Agricultural Union ("Syndicat agricole africain", SAA). Under his presidency, the SAA brought together African farmers who were dissatisfied with their working conditions and worked to protect their interests against those of European planters. Anti-colonialist and anti-racist, the organisation demanded better working conditions, higher wages, and the abolition of unfree labor. The union quickly received the support of nearly 20,000 plantation workers, together with that of the left-wing French administrators placed in office by the Provisional Government. Its success irritated colonists to the extent that they took legal action against Houphouët, accusing him of being anti-French for never seeking French citizenship. However, Houphouët befriended the Inspector Minister of the Colonies, who ordered the charges dropped. They were more successful in obtaining the replacement of the sympathetic Governor André Latrille with the hostile Governor Henry de Mauduit.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët entered electoral politics in August 1945, when elections for the Abidjan city council were held for the first time. The French electoral rules established a common roll: half of the elected would have to be French citizens (who were mostly Europeans) and the other half non-citizens. Houphouët reacted by creating a multi-ethnic all-African roll with both non-citizens and citizens (mostly Senegalese with French citizenship). As a result, most of the African contenders withdrew and a large number of the French protested by abstaining, thus assuring a decisive victory for his African Bloc.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In October 1945, Houphouët moved onto the national political scene; the French government decided to represent its colonies in the "assemblée constituante" () and gave Côte d'Ivoire and Upper Volta two representatives in Parliament combined. One of these would represent the French citizens and another would represent the indigenous population, but the suffrage was limited to less than 1% of the population. In an attempt to block Houphouët, the governor de Mauduit supported a rival candidature, and provided him the full backing of the administration. Despite that and thanks to the SAA's strong organization, Houphouët, running for the indigenous seat, easily came first with a -vote majority. He failed, however, to obtain an absolute majority, due to the large number of candidates running. Houphouët emerged victorious again in the second round of elections held on 4 November 1945, in which he narrowly defeated an Upper Voltan candidate with votes out of a total of . At this point, he decided to add "Boigny" to his surname, meaning "irresistible force" in Baoulé and symbolizing his role as a leader.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In taking his seat at the National Assembly in the Palais Bourbon alongside compatriots Ouezzin Coulibaly and Zinda Kaboré, Houphouët-Boigny had to first decide with which group to side, and he opted for the Mouvement Unifié de la Résistance (MUR), a small party composed of Communist sympathizers but not formal members of the Communist Party. He was appointed a member of the "Commission des territoires d'outre-mer" (Commission of Overseas Territories). During this time, he worked to implement the wishes of the SAA, in particular proposing a bill to abolish forced labor—the single most unpopular feature of French rule. The Assembly adopted this bill, known as "Loi Houphouët-Boigny", on 11 April 1946, greatly enhancing the author's prestige beyond his country. On 3 April 1946, Houphouët-Boigny proposed to unify labour regulations in the territories of Africa; this would eventually be completed in 1952. Finally, on 27 September 1946, he filed a report on the public health system of overseas territories, calling for its reformation. Houphouët-Boigny in his parliamentary tenure supported the idea of a union of French territories.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: As the first constitution proposed by the Constituent Assembly was rejected by the voters, new elections were held in 1946 for a second constituent assembly. For these elections Houphouët-Boigny organized on 9 April 1946, with the help of the "Groupes d'études communistes" (), the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), whose structure closely followed that of the SAA. It immediately became the first successful independent African party when the new party Houphouët-Boigny easily swept the elections with out of votes, his opponents obtaining only a few hundred votes each. In this he was helped by the recall of Governor Latrille, whose predecessor had been fired by the Overseas Minister Marius Moutet for his opposition to the abolition of the "indigénat".


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: With his return to the assembly he was appointed to the "Commission du règlement et du suffrage universel" (Commission for Regulation of Universal Suffrage); as secretary of the commission from 1947 to 1948, he proposed on 18 February 1947 to reform French West Africa (AOF), French Equatorial Africa (AEF), and the French territories' federal council to better represent the African peoples. He also called for the creation of local assemblies in Africa so that Africans could learn how to be politically autonomous.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: During the holding of the second Constituent Assembly the African representatives witnessed a strong reaction against the colonial liberalism that had been embedded in the rejected constitution drafted by the previous assembly. The new text, approved by the voters on 13 October 1946, reduced the African representatives from 30 to 24, and reduced the number of those entitled to vote; also, a large number of colonial topics were left in which the executive could govern by decree, and supervision over the colonial administration remained weak. Reacting to what they felt was a betrayal of the MRP's and the Socialists' promises, the African deputies concluded they needed to build a permanent coalition independent from the French parties. Houphouët-Boigny was the first to propose this to his African colleagues, and obtained their full support for a founding congress to be held in October at Bamako in French Sudan. The French government did all it could to sabotage the congress, and in particular the Socialist Overseas Minister was successful in persuading the African Socialists, who were originally among the promoters, from attending. This ultimately backfired, radicalizing those convened; when they founded the African Democratic Rally (RDA) as an inter-territorial political movement, it was the pro-Communist Gabriel d'Arboussier who dominated the congress. The new movement's goal was to free "Africa from the colonial yoke by the affirmation of her personality and by the association, freely agreed to, of a union of nations". Its first president, confirmed several times subsequently, was Houphouët-Boigny, while d'Arboussier became secretary-general. As part of the bringing of the territorial parties in the organization, the PDCI became the Ivoirian branch of the RDA.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Too small to form their own parliamentary group, the African deputies were compelled to join one of the larger parties in order to sit together in the Palais Bourbon. Thus, the RDA soon joined the French Communist Party (PCF) as the only openly anti-colonialist political faction and soon organised strikes and boycotts of European imports. Houphouët-Boigny justified the alliance because it seemed, at the time, to be the only way for his voice to be heard: "Even before the creation of RDA, the alliance had served our cause: in March 1946, the abolition of compulsory labour was adopted unanimously, without a vote, thanks to our tactical alliance." During his stays in Paris, he travelled in a black limousine to the PCF executive school. On the strength of this contrast, he defends himself from any communist sympathy: "Can I, Houphouet, traditional leader, doctor, big owner, Catholic, can we say that I am a communist? »


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: As the Cold War set in, the alliance with the Communists became increasingly damaging for the RDA. The French colonial administration showed itself increasingly hostile toward the RDA and its president, whom the administration called a "Stalinist". Repression against his party, the PDCI, was increasing in Côte d'Ivoire. Activists are regularly arrested and beaten by police officers, sometimes with acts of torture; others are fired from their jobs. One of the party's main leaders, Senator Biaka Boda, was found hanging and shredded in the forest while wanted by the police. Houphouët-Boigny is afraid for his life and for the existence of the movement. Tensions reached their height at the beginning of 1950, when, following an outbreak of anti-colonial violence, almost the entire PDCI leadership was arrested; Houphouët-Boigny managed to slip away shortly before police arrived at his house. Although Houphouët-Boigny would have been saved by his parliamentary immunity, his missed arrest was popularly attributed to his influence and his prestige. In the ensuing chaos, riots broke out in Côte d'Ivoire; the most significant of which was a clash with the police at Dimbokro in which 13 Africans were killed and 50 wounded. According to official figures, by 1951 a total of 52 Africans had been killed, several hundred wounded and around 3,000 arrested (numbers which, according to an opinion reported by journalist Ronald Segal in "African Profiles", are certainly underestimated). In order to defuse the crisis, Prime Minister René Pleven entrusted the France's Minister for Overseas Territories, François Mitterrand, with the task of detaching the RDA from the PCF, and in fact an official alliance between the RDA and Mitterrand's party, the UDSR, was established in 1952. Knowing he was at an impasse, in October 1950, Houphouët-Boigny agreed to break the Communist alliance. Asked in an undated interview why he worked with the communists, Houphouët-Boigny replied: "I, a bourgeois landowner, I would preach the class struggle? That is why we aligned ourselves with the Communist Party, without joining it." A 1954 report from the French military authorities points out that Houphouët-Boigny "conducted his game alone with great flexibility, procrastination and Machiavellian roueries, refraining from convening either the Coordination Committee or the party congress, which could have opposed this volte-face and gradually became a pro-administrative party. "The Secretary General of the RDA, Gabriel d'Arboussier, denounced this new line and left the party. Similarly, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, the Union démocratique sénégalaise and the Niger Democratic Union refuse to sever their relations with the PCF and the CGT.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In the 1951 elections, the number of seats was reduced from three to two; while Houphouët-Boigny still won a seat, the other RDA candidate, Ouezzin Coulibaly, did not. All in all, the RDA only garnered of votes in that election, and the party in direct opposition to it captured a seat. On 8 August 1951, Boigny, speaking at René Pleven's inauguration as president of the board, denied being the leader of a communist group; he was not believed until the RDA's 1952 affiliation with UDSR. On the 24th of that same month, Boigny delivered a statement in the Assembly contesting the result of the elections, which he declared tainted by fraud. He also denounced what he saw as the exploitation of overseas deputies as "voting machines", who, as political pawns, supported the colonial government's every action. Thereafter, Houphouët-Boigny and the RDA were briefly unsuccessful before their success was renewed in 1956; at that year's elections, the party received of votes cast. From then on, his relationship with Communism was forgotten, and he was embraced as a moderate. Named as a member of the Committees on Universal Suffrage (distinct from the aforementioned committee "regulating" said suffrage), Constitutional Laws, Rules and Petitions. On 1 February 1956, he was appointed Minister Discharging the Duties of the Presidency of the Council in the government of Guy Mollet, a post he held until 13 June 1957. This marked the first time an African was elected to such a senior position in the French government. His principal achievement in this role was the creation of an organisation of Saharan regions that would help ensure sustainability for the French Union and counter Moroccan territorial claims in the Sahara.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: He said nothing against the First Indochina War or against Guy Mollet's vote for special powers to repress the insurrection of the National Liberation Front in Algeria.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: On 6 November 1957, Houphouët-Boigny became Minister of Public Health and Population in the Gaillard administration and attempted to reform the public health code. He had previously served as Minister of State under Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury (13 June – 6 November 1957). Following his Gaillard ministry, he was again appointed Minister of State from 14 May 1958;– 20 May 1959. In this capacity, he participated in the development of France's African policy, notably in the cultural domain. At his behest, the Bureau of French Overseas Students and the University of Dakar were created. On 4 October 1958, Houphouët-Boigny was one of the signatories, along with de Gaulle, of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. The last post he held in France was Minister-Counsellor in the Michel Debré government, from 23 July 1959 to 19 May 1961.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Until the mid-1950s, French colonies in west and central Africa were grouped within two federations: French Equatorial Africa (AEF) and French West Africa (AOF). Côte d'Ivoire was part of the AOF, financing roughly two-thirds of its budget. Wishing to free the country from the guardianship of the AOF, Houphouët-Boigny advocated an Africa made up of nations that would generate wealth rather than share poverty and misery. He participated actively in the drafting and adoption of the framework of the Defferre Loi Cadre, a French legal reform which, in addition to granting autonomy to African colonies, would break the ties that bound the different territories together, giving them more autonomy by means of local assemblies. The Deffere Loi Cadre was far from unanimously accepted by Houphouët-Boigny's compatriots in Africa: Léopold Sédar Senghor, leader of Senegal, was the first to speak out against this attempted "Balkanization" of Africa, arguing that the colonial territories "do not correspond to any reality: be it geographical, economic, ethnic, or linguistic". Senghor argued that maintaining the AOF would give the territories stronger political credibility and would allow them to develop harmoniously as well as emerge as a genuine people. This view was shared by most members of the African Democratic Rally, who backed Ahmed Sékou Touré and Modibo Keïta, placing Houphouët-Boigny in the minority at the 1957 congress in Bamako.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Following the adoption of the Loi Cadre reform on 23 June 1956, a territorial election was held in Côte d'Ivoire on 3 March 1957, in which the PDCI—transformed under Houphouët-Boigny's firm control into a political machine—won many seats. Houphouët-Boigny, who was already serving as a minister in France, as President of the Territorial Assembly and as mayor of Abidjan, chose Auguste Denise to serve as Vice President of the Government Council of Côte d'Ivoire, even though Houphouët-Boigny remained, the only interlocutor in the colony for France. Houphouët-Boigny's popularity and influence in France's African colonies had become so pervasive that one French magazine claimed that by 1956, the politician's photograph "was in all the huts, on the lapels of coats, on the corsages of African women and even on the handlebars of bicycles".


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: On 7 April 1957, the Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, on a visit to Côte d'Ivoire, called on all colonies in Africa to declare their independence; Houphouët-Boigny retorted to Nkrumah:


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Unlike many African leaders who immediately demanded independence, Houphouët-Boigny wished for a careful transition within the ""ensemble français"" because, according to him, political independence without economic independence was worthless. He also invited Nkrumah to meet up with him in 10 years to see which one of the two had chosen the best approach toward independence.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: On 28 September 1958 Charles de Gaulle proposed a constitutional referendum to the Franco-African community: the territories were given the choice of either supporting the constitution or proclaiming their independence and being cut off from France. For Houphouët-Boigny, the choice was simple: "Whatever happens, Côte d'Ivoire will enter directly to the Franco-African community. The other territories are free to group between themselves before joining." Only Guinea chose independence; its leader, Ahmed Sékou Touré, opposed Houphouët-Boigny, stating that his preference was "freedom in poverty over wealth in slavery". The referendum produced the French Community, an institution meant to be an association of free republics which had jurisdiction over foreign policy, defense, currency, common ethnic and financial policy, and strategic raw materials.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny was determined to stop the hegemony of Senegal in West Africa and a political confrontation ensued between Ivorian and Senegalese leaders. Houphouët-Boigny refused to participate in the Inter-African conference in Dakar on 31 December 1958, which was intended to lay the foundation for the Federation of Francophone African States. Although that federation was never realised, Senegal and Mali (known at the time as French Sudan) formed their own political union, the Mali Federation. After de Gaulle allowed the Mali Federation independence in 1959, Houphouët-Boigny tried to sabotage the federation's efforts to wield political control; in cooperation with France, he managed to convince Upper Volta, Dahomey, and Niger to withdraw from the Mali Federation, before it collapsed in August 1960.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Two months after the 1958 referendum, seven member states of French West Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire, became autonomous republics within the French Community. Houphouët-Boigny had won his first victory against those supporting federalism. This victory established the conditions that made the future "Ivorian miracle" possible, since between 1957 and 1959, budget revenues grew by 158%, reaching 21,723,000,000 CFA francs.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny officially became the head of the government of Côte d'Ivoire on 1 May 1959. Although he faced no opposition from rival parties and the PDCI became the "de facto" party of the state in 1957, he was confronted by opposition from his own government. Radical nationalists, led by Jean-Baptiste Mockey, openly opposed the government's Francophile policies. In an attempt to solve this problem, Houphouët-Boigny decided to exile Mockey in September 1959, claiming that Mockey had attempted to assassinate him using voodoo in what Houphouët-Boigny called the ""complot du chat noir"" (black cat conspiracy).


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny began drafting a new constitution for Côte d'Ivoire after the country's independence from France on 7 August 1960. It drew heavily from the United States Constitution in establishing a powerful executive branch, and from the Constitution of France, which limited the capacities of the legislature. He transformed the National Assembly into a mere recording house for bills and budget proposals. On 27 November 1960, Houphouët-Boigny was elected unopposed to the Presidency of the Republic, while a single list of PDCI candidates was elected to the National Assembly.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: 1963 was marked by a series of alleged plots that played a decisive role in ultimately consolidating power in the hands of Houphouët-Boigny. There is no clear consensus on the unfolding of the 1963 events; in fact, there may have been no plot at all and the entire series of events may have been part of a plan by Houphouët-Boigny to consolidate his hold on power. Between 120 and 200 secret trials were held in Yamoussoukro, in which key political figures—including Mockey and the president of the Supreme Court Ernest Boka—were implicated. There was discontent in the army, as the generals grew restive following the arrest of Defense Minister Jean Konan Banny, and the president had to intervene personally to pacify them.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: For the next 27 years, almost all power in Côte d'Ivoire was centered in Houphouët-Boigny. From 1965 to 1985, he was reelected unopposed to five successive five-year terms. Also every five years, a single list of PDCI candidates was returned to the National Assembly. For all intents and purposes, all of them were appointed by the president, since in his capacity as leader of the PDCI he approved all candidates. He and the PDCI believed that national unity and support for the PDCI were one and the same, and that a multiparty system would waste resources and harm the country's unity. For this reason, all adult citizens were required to be members of the PDCI. The media were tightly controlled, and served mainly as outlets for government propaganda.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: While Houphouët-Boigny's regime was authoritarian, it was less harsh than other African regimes of the time. Once he had consolidated his power, he freed political prisoners in 1967. Under his "unique brand of paternalistic authoritarianism", Houphouët-Boigny subdued dissent by offering government positions instead of incarceration to his critics. As a result, according to Robert Mundt, author of "Côte d'Ivoire: Continuity and Change in a Semi-Democracy", he was never seriously challenged after 1963. While Houphouët-Boigny's Ivory Coast lacked political democracy in the Western sense, it was somewhat more tolerant and open than became the case in post-colonial Africa.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In order to foil any plans for a "coup d'état", the president took control of the military and police, reducing their numbers from 5,300 to 3,500. Defence was entrusted to the French armed forces that, pursuant to the treaty on defence cooperation of 24 April 1961, were stationed at Port-Bouët and could intervene at Houphouët-Boigny's request or when they considered French interests to be threatened. They subsequently intervened during attempts by the Sanwi monarchists to secede in 1959 and 1969, and again in 1970, when an unauthorised political group, the Eburnian Movement, was formed and Houphouët-Boigny accused its leader Kragbé Gnagbé of wishing to secede.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny married the much younger Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny in 1962, having divorced his first wife in 1952. The couple had no children of their own, but they adopted one: Olivier Antoine in 1981.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Hélène Houphouët-Boigny – Abla Pokou - was legally recognized in 1960 by her father Mister Felix Houphouet Boigny who came to Court along with his three witnesses:


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: his sisters Ms Faitai and Adjoua Houphouet boigny and his cousin Yao Simon Yamoussoukro's chief of Canton (Judgement Supplétif numsber1261 – 26 AOUT 1960 – Tribunal of Toumodi – A Court Session opened to the public).


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Madame Helene Houphouet Boigny is the granddaughter of the Bouale's King Nanan Kouakou Anougble II, her Mother being Madame Akissi Anougble. They both died in 1958.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The marriage was not without scandal: in 1958, Marie-Thérèse went on a romantic escapade in Italy, while in 1961, Houphouët-Boigny fathered a child (Florence, d. 2007) out of wedlock by his mistress Henriette Duvignac.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Following the example of de Gaulle, who refused proposals for an integrated Europe, Houphouët-Boigny opposed Nkrumah's proposed United States of Africa, which called into question Côte d'Ivoire's recently acquired national sovereignty. However, Houphouët-Boigny was not opposed to collective African institutions if they were subject to his influence or control.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: On 29 May 1959, in cooperation with Hamani Diori (Niger), Maurice Yaméogo (Upper Volta) and Hubert Maga (Dahomey), Houphouët-Boigny created the "Conseil de l'Entente" (). This regional organisation, founded in order to hamper the Mali Federation, was designed with three major functions: to allow shared management of certain public services, such as the port of Abidjan or the Abidjan–Niger railway line; to provide a solidarity fund accessible to member countries, 90% of which was provided by Côte d'Ivoire; and to provide funding for various development projects through low-interest loans to member states (70% of the loans were supplied by Côte d'Ivoire). In 1966, Houphouët-Boigny even offered to grant dual citizenship to nationals from member countries of the Conseil de l'Entente, but the proposition was quickly abandoned following popular protests.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The ambitious Ivorian leader had even greater plans for French-speaking Africa: he intended to rally the different nations behind a large organisation whose objective was the mutual assistance of its member states. The project became a reality on 7 September 1961 with the signing of a charter giving birth to the "Union africaine et malgache" (UAM; ), comprising 12 French-speaking countries including Léopold Sédar Senghor's Senegal. Agreements were signed in various sectors, such as economic, military and telecommunications, which strengthened solidarity among Francophone states. However, the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in May 1963 affected his plans: the supporters of Pan-Africanism demanded the dissolution of all regional groupings, such as the UAM. Houphouët-Boigny reluctantly ceded, and transformed the UAM into the "Organisation africaine et malgache de coopération économique et culturelle" ().


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Considering the OAU a dead end organisation, particularly since Paris was opposed to the group, Houphouët-Boigny decided to create in 1965 "l'Organisation commune africaine et malgache" (OCAM; ), a French organization in competition with the OAU. The organisation included among its members 16 countries, whose aim was to break revolutionary ambitions in Africa. However, over the years, the organisation became too subservient to France, resulting in the departure of half of the countries.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In the mid-1970s, during times of economic prosperity, Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor put aside their differences and joined forces to thwart Nigeria, which, in an attempt to establish itself in West Africa, had created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The two countered the ECOWAS by creating the Economic Community of West Africa (ECWA), which superseded the old trade partnerships in the French-speaking regions. However, after assurances from Nigeria that ECOWAS would function in the same manner as the earlier Francophone organisations, Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor decided to merge their organization into ECOWAS in May 1975.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Throughout his presidency, Houphouët-Boigny surrounded himself with French advisers, such as Guy Nairay, Chief of Staff from 1960 to 1993, and Alain Belkiri, Secretary-General of the Ivorian government, whose influence extended to all areas. This type of diplomacy, which he labelled ""Françafrique"", allowed him to maintain very close ties with the former colonial power, making Côte d'Ivoire France's primary African ally. Whenever one country would enter an agreement with an African nation, the other would unconditionally give its support. Through this arrangement, Houphouët-Boigny built a close friendship with Jacques Foccart, the chief adviser on African policy in the de Gaulle and Pompidou governments.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: By claiming independence for Guinea through the 28 September 1958 French constitutional referendum, Ahmed Sékou Touré had not only defied de Gaulle, but also his fellow African, Houphouët-Boigny. He distanced himself from Guinean officials in Conakry and the Guinean Democratic Party was excluded from the RDA. Tensions between Houphouët-Boigny and Touré also began to rise due to the conspiracies of the French intelligence agency SDECE against the Sékou Touré regime. In January 1960, Houphouët-Boigny delivered small arms to former rebels in Man, Côte d'Ivoire and incited his council in 1965 to agree to taking part in an attempt to overthrow Sékou Touré. In 1967, he promoted the creation of the "Front national de libération de la Guinée" (FNLG; ), a reserve of men ready to plot the downfall of Sékou Touré.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny's relationship with Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of neighboring Ghana, degraded considerably following Guinea's independence, due to Nkrumah's financial and political support for Sékou Touré. After Sékou Touré convinced Nkrumah to support the secessionist Sanwi in Côte d'Ivoire, Houphouët-Boigny began a campaign to discredit the Ghanaian regime. He accused Nkrumah of trying to destabilise Côte d'Ivoire in 1963, and called for the Francophone states to boycott the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) conference scheduled to take place in Accra. Nkrumah was ousted from power in 1966 in a military coup; Houphouët-Boigny allowed the conspirators to use Côte d'Ivoire as a base to coordinate the arrival and departure of their missions.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Also in collaboration with Foccart, Houphouët-Boigny took part in the attempted coup of 16 January 1977 led by famed French mercenary Bob Denard against the revolutionary regime of Mathieu Kérékou in Dahomey. Houphouët-Boigny, in order to fight against the Marxists in power in Angola, also lent his support to Jonas Savimbi's UNITA party, whose feud with the MPLA party led to the Angolan Civil War.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Despite his reputation as a destabiliser of regimes, Houphouët-Boigny granted refuge to Jean-Bédel Bokassa, after the exiled Central African Republic dictator had been overthrown by French paratroopers in September 1979. This move was met with international criticism, and thus, having become a political and financial burden to Houphouët-Boigny, Bokassa was expelled from Côte d'Ivoire in 1983.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny was a participant in the November 1960 Congo Crisis, a period of political upheaval and conflict in Congo-Kinshasa. The Ivorian leader supported President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, an opponent of Lumumba, and followed France in supporting the controversial Congolese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe. Tshombe, disliked by much of Africa, was passionately defended by Houphouët-Boigny and was even invited into OCAM in May 1965. After the overthrow of Kasa-Vubu by General Mobutu in November 1965, the Ivorian president supported, in 1967, a plan proposed by the French secret service which aimed to bring the deposed Congolese leader back into power. The operation was a failure. In response, Houphouët-Boigny decided to boycott the fourth annual summit of the OAU held in September 1967 in Kinshasa.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny was also a major contributor to the political tensions in Biafra. Considering Nigeria a potential danger to French-influenced African states, Foccart sent Houphouët-Boigny and Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond Bichelot on a mission in 1963 to monitor political developments in the country. The opportunity to weaken the former British colony presented itself in May 1967, when Biafra, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, undertook to secede from Nigeria. French-aligned African countries supported the secessionists who, provided with mercenaries and weapons by Jean Mauricheau-Beaupré, fought a civil war with the Nigerian government. By the end of the 1960s, French-supported nations suddenly and openly distanced themselves from France and Côte d'Ivoire's position on the civil war. Isolated on the international scene, both countries decided to suspend their assistance to Ojukwu, who eventually went into exile in Côte d'Ivoire.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: At the request of Paris, Houphouet-Boigny began forging relations with South Africa in October 1970, justifying his attitude by stating that "[t]he problems of racial discrimination, so painful, so distressing, so revolting to our dignity of Negros, must not be resolved, we believe, by force." He even proposed to the OAU in June 1971 that they follow his lead. In spite of receiving some support, his proposal was rejected. This refusal did not, however, prevent him from continuing his attempts to approach the Pretoria regime. His attempts bore fruit in October of that year, when a semi-official meeting between a delegation of high level Ivorian officials and South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster was held in the capital of South Africa. Moreover, mindful of the Communist influence in Africa, he met Vorster in Geneva in 1977, after the Soviet Union and Cuba tried to collectively spread their influence in Angola and Ethiopia. Relations with South Africa continued on an official basis until the end of his presidency.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny and Thomas Sankara, the leader of Burkina Faso, had a highly turbulent relationship. Tensions reached their climax in 1985 when Côte d'Ivoire Burkinabés accused authorities of being involved in a conspiracy to forcibly recruit young students to training camps in Libya. Houphouët-Boigny responded by inviting the dissident Jean-Claude Kamboulé to take refuge in


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Côte d'Ivoire so that he could organise opposition to the Sankara regime. In 1987, Sankara was overthrown and assassinated in a coup. The coup may have had French involvement, since the Sankara regime had fallen into disfavour in France. Houphouët-Boigny was also suspected of involvement in the coup and in November, the PDCI asked the government to ban the sale of "Jeune Afrique" following its allegations of Houphouët-Boigny's participation. The Ivorian president would have greatly benefited from the divisions in the Burkina Faso government. He contacted Blaise Compaoré, the second-most powerful man in the regime; it is generally believed that they worked in conjunction with Laurent Dona Fologo, Robert Guéï and Pierre Ouédraogo to overthrow the Sankara regime.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Besides supporting policies pursued by France, Houphouët-Boigny also influenced their actions in Africa. He pushed France to support and provide arms to warlord Charles Taylor's rebels during the First Liberian Civil War in hopes of receiving some of the country's assets and resources after the war.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: He secretly participated in the trafficking of arms to the South African segregationist regime at the time when it is engaged in a conflict in Angola.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: From the time of Côte d'Ivoire's independence, Houphouët-Boigny considered the Soviet Union and China "malevolent" influences on developing countries. He did not establish diplomatic relations with Moscow until 1967 and then severed them in 1969 following allegations of direct Soviet support to a 1968 student protest at the National University of Côte d'Ivoire. The two countries did not restore ties until February 1986, by which time Houphouët-Boigny had embraced a more active foreign policy reflecting his quest for greater international recognition.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny was even more outspoken in his criticism of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He voiced fears of an "invasion" by the Chinese and a subsequent colonisation of Africa. He was especially concerned that Africans would see the problems of development in China as analogous to those of Africa, and see China's solutions as appropriate to sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, Côte d'Ivoire was one of the last countries to normalise relations with China, doing so on 3 March 1983. Under the principle demanded by Beijing for "one China", the recognition by Côte d'Ivoire of the PRC effectively disestablished diplomatic relations between Abidjan and Taiwan.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny adopted a system of economic liberalism in Côte d'Ivoire in order to obtain the trust and confidence of foreign investors, most notably the French. The advantages granted by the investment laws he established in 1959 allowed foreign business to repatriate up to 90% of their profits in their country of origin (the remaining 10% was reinvested in Côte d'Ivoire). He also developed an agenda for modernising the country's infrastructure, for example, building an American-style business district in Abidjan where five-star hotels and resorts welcomed tourists and businessmen. Côte d'Ivoire experienced economic growth of 11–12% from 1960 to 1965. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew twelvefold between 1960 and 1978, from 145 to 1,750 billion CFA francs, while the trade balance continued to record a surplus.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The origin of this economic success stemmed from the president's decision to focus on the primary sector of the economy, rather than the secondary sector. As a result, the agricultural sector experienced significant development: between 1960 and 1970, cocoa cultivators tripled their production to 312,000 tonnes and coffee production rose by nearly 50%, from 185,500 to 275,000 tonnes. As a result of this economic prosperity, Côte d'Ivoire saw an influx of immigrants from other West African countries; the foreign workforce—mostly Burkinabés—who maintained indigenous plantations, represented over a quarter of the Ivorian population by 1980. Both Ivorians and foreigners began referring to Houphouët-Boigny as the "Sage of Africa" for performing what became known as "Ivorian miracle". He was also respectfully nicknamed "The Old One" ("Le Vieux").


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: However, the economic system developed in cooperation with France was far from perfect. As Houphouët-Boigny described it, the economy of Côte d'Ivoire experienced "growth without development". The growth of the economy depended on capital, initiatives and a financial framework from investors abroad; it had not become independent or self-sustaining.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Beginning in 1978, the economy of Côte d'Ivoire experienced a serious decline due to the sharp downturn in international market prices of coffee and cocoa. The decline was perceived as fleeting, since its impact on planters was buffered by the Caistab, the agricultural marketing board, which ensured them a livable income. The next year, in order to contain a sudden drop in the prices of exported goods, Houphouët-Boigny raised prices to resist international tariffs on raw materials. However, by applying only this solution, Côte d'Ivoire lost more than 700 billion CFA francs between 1980 and 1982. From 1983 to 1984, Côte d'Ivoire fell victim to a drought that ravaged nearly 400,000 hectares of forest and 250,000 hectares of coffee and cocoa plants. To address this problem, Houphouët-Boigny travelled to London to negotiate an agreement on coffee and cocoa prices with traders and industrialists; by 1984, the agreement had fallen apart and Côte d'Ivoire was engulfed in a major financial crisis.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Even the production of the offshore oil drilling and petrochemical industries, developed to supply the Caistab, was affected by the 1986 worldwide economic recession. Côte d'Ivoire, which had bought planters' harvests for double the market price, fell into heavy debt. By May 1987, the foreign debt had reached US$10 billion, prompting Houphouët-Boigny to suspend payments of the debt. Refusing to sell off its supply of cocoa, the country shut down its exports in July and forced world rates to increase. However, this "embargo" failed. In November 1989, Houphouët-Boigny liquidated his enormous stock of cocoa to big businesses to jump-start the economy. Gravely ill at this time, he named a Prime Minister (the post was unoccupied since 1960), Alassane Ouattara, who established a series of belt-tightening economic measures to bring the country out of debt.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The general atmosphere of enrichment and satisfaction during the period of economic growth in Côte d'Ivoire made it possible for Houphouët-Boigny to maintain and control internal political tensions. His easygoing authoritarian regime, where political prisoners were almost nonexistent, was well accepted by the population. However, the economic crisis that began in the 1980s caused a sharp decline in living conditions for the middle class and underprivileged urban populations. According to the World Bank, the population living below the poverty threshold went from 11% in 1985 to 31% by 1993. Despite the implementation of certain measures, such as the reduction of the number of young French workers (who worked abroad while serving in the military) from 3,000 to 2,000 in 1986, allowing many jobs to go to young Ivorian graduates, the government failed to control the rising rates of unemployment and bankruptcy in many companies.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Strong social agitations shook the country, creating insecurity. The army mutinied in 1990 and 1992, and on 2 March 1990, protesters organized mass demonstrations in the streets of Abidjan with slogans such as "thief Houphouët" and "corrupt Houphouët". These popular demonstrations prompted the president to launch a system of democratization on 31 May, in which he authorised political pluralism and trade unions.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Laurent Gbagbo gained recognition as one of the principal instigators of the student demonstrations during the protests against Houphouët-Boigny's government on 9 February 1982, which led to the closing of the universities and other educational institutions. Shortly thereafter, his wife and he formed what would become the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). Gbagbo went into exile in France later that year, where he promoted the FPI and its political platforms. Although the FPI was ideologically similar to the Unified Socialist Party, the French socialist government tried to ignore Gbagbo's party to please Houphouët-Boigny. After a lengthy appeal process, Gbagbo obtained status as a political refugee in France in 1985. However, the French government attempted to pressure him into returning to Côte d'Ivoire, as Houphouët-Boigny had begun to worry about Gbagbo's developing a network of contacts, and believed "his stirring opponent would be less of a threat in Abidjan than in Paris".


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In 1988, Gbagbo returned from exile to Côte d'Ivoire after Houphouët-Boigny implicitly granted him forgiveness by declaring that "the tree did not get angry at the bird". In 1990, Houphouët-Boigny legalised opposition parties. On 28 October, a presidential election was held. Gbagbo filed to run against Houphouët-Boigny. It was the first time Houphouët-Boigny would face a contested election. Gbagbo highlighted the President's age, suggesting that the 85-year-old president would not survive a seventh five-year term. Houphouët-Boigny countered by broadcasting television footage of his youth, and defeated Gbagbo with 2,445,365 votes to 548,441—an implausible 81.7 percent of the vote.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: During his presidency, Houphouët-Boigny benefited greatly from the wealth of Côte d'Ivoire; by the time of his death in 1993, his personal wealth was estimated to be between US$7 and $11 billion. With regards to his large fortune, Houphouët-Boigny said in 1983, "People are surprised that I like gold. It's just that I was born in it." The Ivorian leader acquired a dozen properties in the metropolitan area of Paris (including Hotel Masseran on Masseran Street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris), a property in Castel Gandolfo in Italy, and a house in Chêne-Bourg, Switzerland. He owned real estate companies, such as Grand Air SI, SI Picallpoc and Interfalco, and had many shares in prestigious jewelry and watchmaking companies, such as Piaget SA and Harry Winston. He placed his fortune in Switzerland, once asking if "there is any serious man on Earth not stocking parts of his fortune in Switzerland".


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: In 1983, Houphouët-Boigny moved the capital from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro. There, at the expense of the state, he built many buildings such as the Institute Polytechnique and an international airport. The most luxurious project was the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, which is currently the largest church in the world, with an area of and a height of . Personally financed by Houphouët-Boigny, construction for the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was carried out by the Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury at a total cost of about US$150–200 million. Houphouët-Boigny offered it to Pope John Paul II as a "personal gift"; the latter, after having unsuccessfully requested it being shorter than St. Peter's in Rome, consecrated it all the same on 10 September 1990. Due to a collapse of the national economy coupled with lavish amounts spent on its construction, the Basilica was criticized: it was called "the basilica in the bush" by several western news agencies.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: The political, social, and economic crises also touched the issue of who would succeed Houphouët-Boigny as head of state. After severing ties with his former political heir Philippe Yacé in 1980, who, as president of the National Assembly, was entitled to exercise the full functions of President of the Republic if the Head of State was incapacitated or absent, Houphouët-Boigny delayed as much as he could in officially designating a successor. The president's health became increasingly fragile, with Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara administering the country from 1990 onwards, while the president was hospitalised in France. There was a struggle for power, which ended when Houphouët-Boigny rejected Ouattara in favour of Henri Konan Bédié, the President of the National Assembly. In December 1993, Houphouët-Boigny, terminally ill with prostate cancer, was urgently flown back to Côte d'Ivoire so he could die there. He was kept on life support to ensure that the last dispositions concerning his succession were defined. After his family consented, Houphouët-Boigny was disconnected from life support at 6:35 am GMT on 7 December. At the time of his death, Houphouët-Boigny was the longest-serving leader in Africa and the third in the world, after Fidel Castro of Cuba and Kim Il Sung of North Korea.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Houphouët-Boigny left no written will or legacy report for Côte d'Ivoire upon his death in 1993. His recognised heirs, especially Helena, led a battle against the government to recover part of the vast fortune Houphouët-Boigny had left, which she claimed was "private" and did not belong to the State.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Following Houphouët-Boigny's death, the country's stability was maintained, as seen by his impressive funeral on 7 February 1994. The funeral for this "doyen of francophone Africa" was held in the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, with 7,000 guests inside the building and tens of thousands outside. The two-month delay before Houphouët-Boigny's funeral, common among members of the Baoule ethnic group, allowed for many ceremonies preceding his burial. The president's funeral featured many traditional African funerary customs, including a large chorus dressed in bright batik dresses singing "laagoh budji gnia" (Baoulé: "Lord, it is you who has made all things") and village chiefs displaying strips of kente and korhogo cloth. Baoulés are traditionally buried with objects they enjoyed while alive; Houphouët-Boigny's family, however, did not state what, if anything, they would bury with him.


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: Over 140 countries and international organisations sent delegates to the funeral. However, according to "The New York Times", many Ivorians were disappointed by the poor attendance of several key allies, most notably the United States. The small United States delegation was led by Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs George Moose. In contrast, Houphouët-Boigny's close personal ties with France were reflected in the large French delegation, which included President François Mitterrand; Prime Minister Édouard Balladur; the presidents of the National Assembly and of the Senate, Philippe Séguin and René Monory; former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing; Jacques Chirac; his friend Jacques Foccart; and six former Prime Ministers. According to "The New York Times", "Houphouët-Boigny's death is not only the end of a political era here, but perhaps as well the end of the close French-African relationship that he came to symbolize."


title: Félix Houphouët-Boigny

text: To establish his legacy as a man of peace, Houphouët-Boigny created an award in 1989, sponsored by UNESCO and funded entirely by extra-budgetary resources provided by the Félix-Houphouët-Boigny Foundation, to honor those who search for peace. The prize is "named after President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the doyen of African Heads of State and a tireless advocate of peace, concord, fellowship and dialogue to solve all conflicts both within and between States". It is awarded annually along with a check for €122,000, by an international jury composed of 11 persons from five continents, led by former United States Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger. The prize was first awarded in 1991 to Nelson Mandela, president of the African National Congress, and Frederik Willem de Klerk, president of the Republic of South Africa, and has been awarded each year since, with the exception of 2001 and 2004.


title: Oblomov

text: Oblomov (; ) is the second novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is the central character of the novel, portrayed as the ultimate incarnation of the superfluous man, a symbolic character in 19th-century Russian literature. Oblomov is a young, generous nobleman who seems incapable of making important decisions or undertaking any significant actions. Throughout the novel he rarely leaves his room or bed. In the first 50 pages, he manages only to move from his bed to a chair. The book was considered a satire of Russian intelligentsia.


title: Oblomov

text: The novel was popular when it came out, and some of its characters and devices have imprinted on Russian culture and language.


title: Oblomov

text: Goncharov first thought of writing "Oblomov" in the mid-1840s, soon after publishing his first novel "A Common Story." In 1849 he wrote "Episode from an Unfinished Novel: Oblomov's Dream", a short story that was published in the literary journal "Sovremennik." At that point Goncharov had just started writing his novel, and "Oblomov" was published ten years later, with "Oblomov's Dream" as Chapter 9 in Part 1.


title: Oblomov

text: The character that would become Oblomov originally appeared in 1838 in the Maikovs' handwritten magazine written by Goncharov, as one of the protagonists in "Likhaia bolest". Nikon Ustinovich Tiazhelemko, or the pre-Oblomov Oblomov, was a slothful but rather endearing man whose name evokes in Russian the attribute "heavy" (tiazhelyi) and the expression "slow to move" (tiazhel na pod"em). The work on "Oblomov" continued for several years after the publication of "Oblomov's Dream" but was first interrupted by the death of Goncharov's mother, and then his decision to join the around the world voyage of the naval frigate" Pallas." When "Pallas" finally ended its journey in August 1854 in Russia's far east, Goncharov spent another half a year getting acquainted with Siberia and slowly making his way back to St. Petersburg. Although Goncharov was not working on "Oblomov" during his long journey it appears he was thinking about the book, as Oblomov shows up in many of his letters home. When he tried to begin writing again in February 1855, he blamed his delays and inability to write on exhaustion, loss of momentum, and a new and more demanding job as a censor. The summer of 1857 finally found Goncharov, alone in Marienbad, completely exhilarated and writing "Oblomov" in full swing. By the end of August the novel was complete. He spent the following year revising and rewriting the novel until finally on January 14, 1859, "Oblomov" was published serially in "Otechestvennye zapiski".


title: Oblomov

text: A later edition in 1862 included a number of changes made by Goncharov. An 1887 edition also featured revisions to the 1859 text and was his last approved edition. Scholars do not agree on which text should be considered canonical.


title: Oblomov

text: The novel focuses on the life of the main character, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Oblomov is a member of the upper middle class and the son of a member of Russia's nineteenth-century landed gentry. Oblomov's distinguishing characteristic is his slothful attitude towards life. Oblomov raises this trait to an art form, conducting his little daily business from his bed.


title: Oblomov

text: The first part of the book finds Oblomov in bed one morning. He receives a letter from the manager of his country estate, Oblomovka, explaining that the financial situation is deteriorating and that he must visit to make some major decisions. But Oblomov can barely leave his bedroom, much less journey a thousand miles into the country.


title: Oblomov

text: As he sleeps, a dream reveals Oblomov's upbringing in Oblomovka. He is never required to work or perform household duties, and his parents constantly pull him from school for vacations and trips or for trivial reasons. In contrast, his friend Andrey Stoltz, born to a German father and a Russian mother, is raised in a strict, disciplined environment, and he is dedicated and hard-working.


title: Oblomov

text: Stoltz visits at the end of Part 1, finally rousing Oblomov from sleep. As the story develops, Stoltz introduces Oblomov to a young woman, Olga, and the two fall in love. However, his apathy and fear of moving forward are too great, and she calls off their engagement when it is clear that he will keep delaying their wedding and avoiding putting his affairs in order.


title: Oblomov

text: Oblomov is swindled repeatedly by his "friends" Taranteyev and Ivan Matveyevich, his landlady's brother, and Stoltz has to undo the damage each time. The last time, Oblomov ends up living in penury because Taranteyev and Ivan Matveyevich are blackmailing him out of all of his income from the country estate, which lasts for over a year before Stoltz discovers the situation and reports Ivan Matveyevich to his supervisor. Meanwhile, Olga leaves Russia and visits Paris, where she bumps into Stoltz on the street. The two strike up a romance and end up marrying.


title: Oblomov

text: However, not even Oblomov could go through life without at least one moment of self-possession and purpose. When Taranteyev's behavior at last reaches insufferable lows, Oblomov confronts him, slaps him, and finally kicks him out of the house. Sometime before his death he is visited by Stoltz, who had promised to his wife a last attempt at bringing Oblomov back to the world. During this visit Stoltz discovers that Oblomov has married his widowed landlady, Agafia Pshenitsina, and had a child – named Andrey, after Stoltz. Stoltz realizes that he can no longer hope to reform Oblomov, and leaves. Oblomov spends the rest of his life in a second Oblomovka, continuing to be taken care of by Agafia Pshenitsina as he used to be taken care of as a child. She can prepare the food he likes, cares for the household, and makes sure that Oblomov does not have a single worrisome thought.


title: Oblomov

text: By then Oblomov had already accepted his fate, and during the conversation he mentions "Oblomovitis" as the real cause of his demise. Oblomov dies in his sleep, finally fulfilling his wish to sleep forever. Stoltz adopts his son upon his death.


title: Oblomov

text: The narrator of Oblomov appears as a rather traditional third person narrator. In the beginning of the novel he is largely invisible and lets the characters do the talking. As the novel progresses he comes far less neutral and actually begins to not only describe the characters but he begins to judge them, like criticizing Oblomov's family for being overly protective of Ilya as a child, or calling Oblomov's false friends "parasites." The narrator's strongly developed moralizing tendencies are constantly upset by an equally strong note of ambivalence that undermines his judgements. The narrator seems to be someone who may wish he knew the answers but is honest enough to admit that he does not. Goncharov is eager by the end of the novel to make a distinction between himself and the narrator by making the narrator an invented character. However, Goncharov chooses to reveal the identity of the narrator only when the revelation would not affect our reading of the novel. There are many moments when the narrator reveals himself to be uncharacteristically chatty, digressive, and not entirely "reliable".


title: Oblomov

text: Goncharov used a lot of dialogue within his works. Therefore, the characters in Oblomov reveal themselves primarily through their own speech, with very limited comments by the author. The "colloquial exchanges here coexist with long passages that characterize the novel's inhabitants more directly."


title: Oblomov

text: Goncharov wrote three novels over the course of his life: "The Same Old Story", "Oblomov", and "The Precipice". Each novel was based heavily on autobiographical material, focusing on different epochs of life – specifically, infancy and childhood as influenced by the mother; then the "awakening of adolescence"; and finally adulthood as associated with St. Petersburg, government work, and marriage. The main characters of all three books share multiple important similarities: their fathers have either been absent or largely insignificant in their upbringings, they rely heavily on their mothers even past childhood, and they travel to St. Petersburg during their university years. Goncharov himself lost his father at the age of seven, and worked in St. Petersburg as a translator after graduating from Moscow State University. Aduev, the protagonist of "The Same Old Story", also isolates himself from reality and prefers to live within his imagination much like Oblomov does.


title: Oblomov

text: With these thematically linked protagonists, Goncharov envisioned "Oblomov" as part of a thematic "trilogy", fitting between his other two novels. Goncharov imagined his novels as different reflections of a single personality; "they are but one tremendous structure, one mirror reflecting in miniature three epochs: Old Life, Sleep, and Awakening." Aduev, Oblomov, and Raysky (the protagonist of "The Precipce") therefore form "but one personality in its successive rebirths." Oblomov represents the epoch of "Sleep" in Goncharov's vision. Yet many literary critics have found Goncharov's vision to be lacking. Belinsky and Dobrolyubov, two well-known literary critics who wrote famous reviews of Goncharov's works, failed to recognize a larger connection between Oblomov and Goncharov's other novels.


title: Oblomov

text: Oblomov spends much of his adult life attempting to remain within his childhood, a time that he remembers for its peacefulness and the safety provided by his mother. His memory of childhood in Oblomovka is dominated by its cyclical time, with "births, celebrations, feasts...new faces take the places of the old, baby boys grow into marriageable young men who duly marry and reproduce themselves. Such is the pattern according to which life weaves itself this seamless length of identical fabric to be snipped gently only at the grave itself." The Oblomovka of his childhood keeps track of time through the cyclical events of birth, death, and natural seasons, relying on the repetition of events to pass through life. Even Oblomov's name and patronymic, Ilya Ilyich, reveal him as a repeat of his father instead of just a son. This instilling of contentment through repetition renders Oblomov ill-equipped for the expectations placed on his adulthood in a rapidly changing society.


title: Oblomov

text: Adulthood constantly discourages Oblomov, whose main desire is to retreat into the safety of his childhood sense of time. He attempts to take on jobs and responsibilities for Oblomovka, but upon realizing the tasks these require, he becomes easily defeated and retreats into metaphorical and literal sleep. Even his desire to return to Oblomovka cannot be realized, as the estate has fallen into disarray and has now become a responsibility instead of a safe haven. His main foray into adulthood comes about through Olga, who attempts to motivate him to take on responsibilities out of love for her. Particularly for Oblomov, adulthood means changing his cyclical sense of time to continually look forward instead of back. Yet he remains stuck within his childhood desire for things to stay put; loving Olga means that he does not wish to change her like she wishes to change him, but his sense of time prevents him from thinking of the future, and he therefore cannot progress into adulthood by marrying her.


title: Oblomov

text: Stoltz, in contrast, exemplifies society's expectations for adulthood in his eagerness to move forward. His own childhood is marked heavily by his father's insistence on treating him as an adult and teaching him the importance of accomplishment, which carries into his adulthood. Stoltz, unlike Oblomov, sees his life as a straight line and is therefore driven by the desire to continually move forward.


title: Oblomov

text: The words "Oblomovism" and "Oblomovitis" (translations of "oblomovshchina") refer to the fatalistic slothfulness that Oblomov exhibits.


title: Oblomov

text: Nikolai Dobrolyubov, in his 1859 article "What is Oblomovism?", described the word as an integral part of Russian avos'. Stolz suggests that Oblomov's death was the result of "Oblomovism".


title: Oblomov

text: However, Elaine Blair argues in "The Short Happy Life of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov" that Oblomov is "not merely lazy." She simply says, "our hero favors very short-term pleasures over long-term ones," "he is self-conscious in a way that no farcical character or Rabelaisian grotesque would be," and "to Oblomov, to be absorbed in any task is to lose something of oneself; a person can maintain his full dignity only in repose."


title: Oblomov

text: A character named "Oblomov" in art patron Peggy Guggenheim's memoir "Out of This Century" was identified by poet Stephen Spender as Samuel Beckett, her one-time lover.