Source: National Archives & Historic Records of Burkina Faso
History • Historical Archive • 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso • 0 views

Joseph Ki-Zerbo 🇧🇫

Joseph Ki-Zerbo (Known as "Professor Ki-Zerbo")
Historian, Political Philosopher, UNESCO General History Editor, Politician
Born 1922-06-21 🇧🇫 Toma, Burkina Faso
Passed Away 2006-12-04 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Lifespan 84 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Nan lara an sara: If we sleep, we die; if we wake, we liberate ourselves."

Archival Overview

One of Africa's most brilliant historians and philosophers who edited Volume I of the UNESCO General History of Africa and formulated the doctrine 'Nan lara an sara' (If we sleep, we die).

Biographical Record

Joseph Ki-Zerbo was born on June 21, 1922, in Toma. The first West African to obtain the prestigious French Agrégation d'Histoire at the Sorbonne in 1956, he dedicated his life to reclaiming African history from colonial distortion.

In 1958, when Guinea voted 'No' to the French Community, Ki-Zerbo and his wife Jacqueline moved to Conakry to provide volunteer secondary education to replace departing French teachers. He authored the landmark Histoire de l'Afrique Noire (1972) and directed Volume I of UNESCO's General History of Africa. A visionary democratic socialist and Pan-Africanist, his book A quand l'Afrique? ('When is Africa's Turn?') won the 1997 Right Livelihood Award.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Toma Ancestral Cemetery
Toma, Burkina Faso
GPS: 12.7667, -2.8833
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