The Lion King | 29
Notable Personality
Tchicaya U Tam’si, also known as Gérald
Félix Tchicaya was born on August 25, 1931,
in Mpili, near Brazzaville, French Equatorial
Africa [now in Congo). He died on April
22, 1988, at Bazancourt, Oise, France. He
was a Congolese French-language writer
and poet whose work explored the rela-
tionship between the victor and victim.
As the son of the Congolese first deputy
to the French National Assembly,
Tchicaya finished his secondary school in
Orléans and Paris. When Belgian Congo
became independent, Tchicaya
went to Léopoldville (now
Kinshasa) as chief editor of a new
daily paper, which was published
for just one week. From 1960, he
worked with UNESCO in Paris.
Tchicaya’s poetry, much in-
Tchicaya U Tam’si
Country Focus
Photo: Davidbstanley
Photo: flickr /L’amande
fluenced by Surrealism and Negritude,
includes Le Mauvais Sang (1955; “Bad
Blood”), Feu de brousse (1957; Brush Fire),
À triche-coeur (1960; “A Game of Cheat-
Heart”), Épitomé (1962), Le Ventre (1964;
“The Belly”), L’Arc musical (1969; “The Bow
Harp”), Selected Poems (1970), and La
Veste d’intérieur (1977; “The Inner Fail-
ure”). He also published Légendes afric-
aines (1969; “African Stories”), a collection
of folktales. His later works include a book
of short stories, a novel, and two plays.
His poetry relates, through rich and varied
imagery, the broken heritage of the Afri-
can present and the roles of the Roman
Catholic church, French colonialism, and
education. It uses fierce and startling
symbols repetitively. Like devices in oral
African literature, Tchicaya expanded his
verse to make large statements about life.
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire (Black Point) is the
second largest city in the Republic of
the Congo, following the capital of
Brazzaville. It is situated on a headland
between Pointe-Noire Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean. Pointe-Noire is the main
commercial centre of the country. It
is also a major sea port and a tourist
destination.
Pointe Noire's name originated from
Portuguese navigators who saw a block
of black rocks on the headland in 1484.
From then on, Pointe Noire, called
Ponta Negra, became a maritime
reference, and then a small fishing
village from 1883, after the French
signed a treaty with local people,
Loangos.
In 1910, French Equatorial Africa
(Afrique équatoriale française, AEF) was
created, and French companies were
allowed to exploit the Middle Congo
(modern-day Congo Brazzaville). It soon
became necessary to build a railroad
that would connect Brazzaville, the
terminus of the river navigation on the
Congo River and the Ubangui River,
with the Atlantic coast. As rapids make
it impossible to navigate on the Congo
River past Brazzaville, and the coastal
railroad terminus site had to allow for
the construction of a deep-sea port,
authorities chose the site of Ponta
Negra instead of Libreville as originally
envisaged. Construction of the Congo-
Ocean Railway began in 1921, and led
to the foundation of Pointe-Noire on 22
May 1922.
Pointe-Noire continued growing, and
was the most modern city in 1960, when
Congo gained independence. The oil
discovery around 1980 attracted even
more people and factories.
Pointe Noire station
Pointe-Indienne, the weekend
place for people of Pointe Noire
Djeno-Losange, Pointe-Noire
Photo: Flickr/jbdodane
