Adrien Degbey

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Adrien Degbey
Minister of Rural Development and Cooperation
In office
27 January 1964 – 1 December 1965
PresidentSourou-Migan Apithy (Resignation)
Justin Ahomadégbé (Interim)
Prime MinisterJustin Ahomadégbé
Preceded bySourou-Migan Apithy
Succeeded byAntoine Boya
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
In office
11 September 1963 – 27 October 1963
PresidentHubert Maga
Prime MinisterHubert Maga
Preceded byBertin Borna[1]
Succeeded byJustin Ahomadégbé[2]
Personal details
Born
Adrien Degbey

(1918-05-10)10 May 1918
Dogbo (French Dahomey)
Died14 April 1971(1971-04-14) (aged 52)
Political partyDahomeyan Democratic Party (1963-1965)
Other political
affiliations		Dahomeyan Unity Party (1960-1963)
Dahomeyan Progressive Union (1946-1951)
Alma materÉcole normale supérieure William Ponty
OccupationTeacher
Awards
Signature

Adrien Degbey (10 May 1918 – 14 April 1971) was a Dahomeyan politician.

Biography[edit]

Education and teaching career[edit]

Adrien Degbey was born on 10 May 1918 in Dogbo[3] in French Dahomey (now known as Benin). He attended Victor Ballot School from 1932 to 1935 and graduated at the top of his class. In 1935, with five classmates including Justin Ahomadégbé,[4] he was shortlisted on the basis of his marks and admitted to the École normale supérieure William Ponty in Gorée in Senegal, known at the time as the principal training ground of the elite from French West Africa.[5][6]

During his time in college, he discovered acting and studied theatre thanks to Charles Béart, school principal and father of the Ponty theatre.[7][8] He was a member of the school theatre group with the future Dahomeyan political elite, Hubert Maga, Émile Derlin Zinsou, François Djibodé Aplogan[a] and Antoine Boya.[b] In 1936, he played a role in Retour aux fétiches délaissés.[10] The play was performed in Gorée and Dakar and was hailed as a success.

Adrien Degbey graduated the École normale with a diploma in Primary Education.

On 16 March 1961, then first-class teacher, he was appointed deputy school inspector and assigned to primary inspection in Porto-Novo district.[11]

He ended his career as principal school inspector.[12]

Political career[edit]

In January 1947, as a member of the Dahomeyan Progressive Union, the largest political party in Dahomey, he was elected for five years to the General Council.[13][14] He was reelected in 1959 and served until 1960 when the country attained full independence from France.[15]

The political history of the Republic of Dahomey from independence to the early seventies was marked by chronic political instability with numerous coups d'état, coup attempts and cabinet reshuffles. During this time, Adrien Degbey served twice as a government minister.

The first time, he was chosen and appointed minister of Labor and Social Affairs by Hubert Maga on 11 September 1963.[16] He served until 27 October of the same year when Colonel Christophe Soglo, Chief of Staff of the Army, forced the president to resign the office and took control of the country in a bloodless operation in order to prevent a civil war.[17]

One month later, Christophe Soglo offered Adrien Degbey to take part in a national constitutional committee which was composed of "experts, regional representatives, spiritual families, union representatives and youth organizations" in charge of reviewing a draft Constitution proposed by the interim government.[18]

As the colonel dissolved the Dahomeyan Unity Party, sole legal party in the country, on 13 November 1963,[19] Sourou-Migan Apithy and Justin Ahomadégbé founded a new one, the Dahomeyan Democratic Party (DDP)[c] on 15 December. Adrien Degbey was elected officer of the political bureau as delegate of social affairs.[21]

In his memoirs, Bruno Amoussou related some confessions that Adrien Degbey made regarding this military transition period which led to the Nation's Second Republic. He criticized errors made on various events that happened far too quickly, such as the drafting of a new Constitution in only ten days, the foundation of a new sole legal party in 47 days and the holding of the parliamentary election.[22]

On 5 January 1964, the new Constitution was adopted by referendum and approved by 99.86% of voters.

When the army restored power to civilians, the DDP won the parliamentary election and all 42 seats in the National Assembly on 19 January 1964; Sourou-Migan Apithy became president of a coalition government and Justin Ahomadégbé was designated as premier and vice president on 25 January. Adrien Degbey joined the administration as minister of Rural Development and Cooperation.[23]

Promptly, economic problems, social issues, strikes, differing opinions on politics and irreversible tensions contributed to the government's instability that led to the resignation of Sourou-Migan Apithy on 27 November 1965 and Justin Ahomadégbé's one two days later. As president of the National Assembly, the interim was carried out by Tahirou Congacou who took on the powers of the president of the Republic on 29 November. He formed a restricted cabinet of five members; Antoine Boya succeeded both Adrien Degbey and François Aplogan as secretary of State for Finance, Economy, Rural Development and Cooperation.[24]

But Christophe Soglo (since promoted to the rank of general) was dissatisfied with the actions taken by Tahirou Congacou and decided to remove the latter from power on 22 December 1965. General Soglo took back the presidency until 17 December 1967, when young army officers led by Major Maurice Kouandété overthrew him.

On 25 January 1968, a constitutional committee was mandated by Lieutenant Colonel Alphonse Alley, interim head of State, to draft a Constitution, which would go to a nationwide referendum.[25][26] Adrien Degbey was part of this 54-member body[d] which was composed of people picked for their regional origin and expertise.[27] A new Constitution was written and approved by 846,521-to-71,695 vote on 31 March of the same year.[28]

Death[edit]

Adrien Degbey died in a car accident on 14 April 1971. He received a state funeral.[29]

Awards and honors[edit]

A Middle School founded in 1972 in Sè was named after him.[30]

During his lifetime, Adrien Degbey received these distinctions:

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ François Djibodé Aplogan served as a government minister several times.[9]
  2. ^ Antoine Boya was a senior civil servant and secretary of State.
  3. ^ The Dahomeyan Democratic Party was dissolved by Tahirou Congacou on 4 December 1965.[20]
  4. ^ The constitutional committee was made up as following: 33 full members, 16 deputy members and 5 government commissioners.
  5. ^ French medal awarded for a minimum of seven years of service as tenured teacher.

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Africa Diary 1969.
  2. ^ Ordonnance No. 1963-1.
  3. ^ Goudjinou Métinhoué 2006, p. 137, [1].
  4. ^ Fifatin 1973, p. 190.
  5. ^ Karl-August 1984.
  6. ^ Sabatier 1977.
  7. ^ Sabatier 1979.
  8. ^ Huannou 2000, p. 49.
  9. ^ Houngnikpo & Decalo 2013, p. 55, [2].
  10. ^ Retronews.
  11. ^ Decree No. 1961-81.
  12. ^ Decree No. 1964-241.
  13. ^ Gallica.
  14. ^ Houngnikpo & Decalo 2013, p. 63, [3].
  15. ^ Houngnikpo & Decalo 2013, p. 136, [4].
  16. ^ Decree No. 1963-432.
  17. ^ Decree No. 1963-488.
  18. ^ Decree No. 1963-518.
  19. ^ Ordonnance No. 1963-12.
  20. ^ Decree No. 1965-121-Bis.
  21. ^ CIA 1963.
  22. ^ Amoussou 2009, p. 125.
  23. ^ West Africa Annual 1966.
  24. ^ Decree No. 1965-119-Bis.
  25. ^ JPRS 1968.
  26. ^ Decree No. 1967-441.
  27. ^ Decree No. 1968-19-Bis.
  28. ^ Decraene 1968.
  29. ^ Pliya 1993, p. 6, [5].
  30. ^ Espeduc.
  31. ^ a b c d Towou 1973, p. 5.
  32. ^ Decree No. 1967-294.

References[edit]

  • Content in this edit is partially or fully translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at Adrien Degbey; see its history for attribution.

Magazine[edit]

  • "Cabinet reshuffle in September 1963". Africa Diary. M. Chhabra. 1969. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Google Books.
  • "The Constituent Congress of the Dahomey Democratic Party". Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. No. 244. United States: Central Intelligence Agency. 18 December 1963. p. I1. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Google Books.
  • Jakande, L. K. (1966). "Composition of the Government of the Republic of Dahomey". West Africa Annual. No. 3. James Clarke. p. 41. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Google Books.
  • "Draft of Dahomey's new Constitution". Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa. No. 705. United States: Joint Publications Research Service. 3 April 1968. pp. 38–41. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Google Books.

Thesis[edit]

Journal[edit]

  • Sabatier, Peggy R. (1979). "Charles Béart, "Bon Père" or "Le Colonialisme Incarné?": A Colonial School Director and the Ambiguities of Paternalism". Proceedings of the Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society. 4. Michigan State University Press: 141–156. ISSN 0362-7055. JSTOR 45137339. OCLC 750596237.
  • Karl-August, Emmanuel (First Quarter 1984). "Serpos Abdou Tidjani: L'homme et l'œuvre". Présence Africaine (in French) (129). Présence Africaine Editions: 140–157. doi:10.3917/presa.129.0140. JSTOR 24350967.

Websites[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Towou, André (1973). Au clair de lune sous les tropiques : contes (in French). Vol. 1. Cotonou: Éditions A.B.M. – via Google Books.
  • Pliya, Jean (1993). L'histoire de mon pays, le Bénin (in French) (3rd ed.). Cotonou: La Librairie Notre-Dame.
  • Huannou, Adrien (2000). La littérature béninoise de langue française (in French). Paris: Karthala Éditions. ISBN 978-2865371051.
  • Goudjinou Métinhoué, Pierre (2006). Les ministres du Dahomey et du Bénin : mai 1957 - avril 2006 (in French) (1st ed.). Benin: Centre national de production de manuels scolaires. ISBN 978-9991960388.
  • Amoussou, Bruno (2009). L'Afrique est mon combat (in French) (1st ed.). Paris: L'Archipel. ISBN 978-2809801576.
  • Houngnikpo, Mathurin C.; Decalo, Samuel (2013). Historical Dictionary of Benin (4th ed.). Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810871717.

Law[edit]

See also[edit]

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