Jean Bolikango was a Congolese educator, writer, and conservative politician. He served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, in September 1960 and from February to August 1962. He headed the Parti de l’Unité Nationale and worked as a key opposition member in Parliament in the early 1960s. He died in 1975 and was posthumously awarded a medal in 2005 for his long career in public service. His grandson created a foundation in his memory to promote social progress.
About Jean Bolikango in brief
Jean Bolikango was a Congolese educator, writer, and conservative politician. He served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, in September 1960 and from February to August 1962. He headed the Parti de l’Unité Nationale and worked as a key opposition member in Parliament in the early 1960s. He wrote an award-winning novel, Le Hardi, which won a prize for creative writing from the International Conference on African Studies in 1948. He died in 1975 and was posthumously awarded a medal in 2005 for his long career in public service. His grandson created a foundation in his memory to promote social progress. He was married to a woman named Claire Bolikango, and had a son, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, who became the president of ADAPÉS in order to bring him into the UNISCO, thereby furthering the latter’s political standing. He also had a daughter, Claire, who was later to become a member of the African Union Commission. He is buried in Léopoldville, in the Belgian Congo, where he was born on 4 February 1909. He taught at Scheutist schools and taught a total of 1,300 students, including future Prime Minister Joseph Iléo, future PM Cyrille Adoula, future Minister of Finance Arthur Pinzi, and future dramatist Albert Mongita. In 1946 he became president of the Association des Anciens élèves des pères de Scheut, a position he held until his death. In 1954 he founded and, for a time, served as general chairman of the Liboka Lya Bangala, the first Bangala ethnic association.
By 1957 it encompassed 48 affiliated tribal organisations and had 50,000 members. He authored a novel in Lingala entitled Mondé Mondé, which he later published as a book of short stories. He later married a woman called Claire, and they had a child, Claire Bolikango, who later became a politician. In 1965 he was appointed to the political bureau of the Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, but he left the bureau in 1970 and died seven years later. He had been awarded the Ghent Fair in 1948, but no prize was given to him for his work in that contest. In the 1950s he was a leader in the push for independence, making him one of the “fathers of independence” in the Congo. He succeeded in establishing the Part i de l’UnitéNationale and promoted both a united Congo and strong ties with Belgium. After the Congo became independent in 1960 he attempted to organise a national political base that would support his bid for a prestigious office in the new government. His attempts to secure a position in the government failed and he became a leading members of the opposition in Parliament. As the first government was dislodged and succeeded by several different administrations, he mediated between warring factions and briefly served as Deputy PM in 1961.
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