Henri Guissou (17 November 1910,

Koudougou Koudougou is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With a population of 160,239 (2019) it is the third most populous city in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou and Bobo Diou ...

, French Upper Volta – 22 May 1979, Koudougou) was a Burkinabé politician and diplomat. Henri Guissou was senator from

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

from 1947 to 1948, and member for French Upper Volta to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

from 1949 to 1959, Guissou also served in the French Senate from 1947 to 1948. From 1948 to 1952 he was member for Koudougou of the Territorial Assembly of French Upper Volta.Daniel Miles McFarland, ''Historical Dictionary of Upper Volta (Haute Volta)'', 1978, p. 86 A political leader of the

Voltaic Union Voltaic Union (french: Union Voltaïque) was a political party in Upper Volta. It was formed soon after World War II on the initiative of the French governor Albert Mouragues, and Mouragues was accused of interference in the June 1948 local ele ...

, he founded the

Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses (in French: ''Parti Social pour l'Émancipation des Masses Africaines'') was a political party in Upper Volta, led by Joseph Conombo and Henri Guissou. PSEMA was founded in 1955 following a ...

(PSEMA) with

Joseph Conombo Joseph Issoufou Conombo (9 February 1917 – 20 December 2008) served as Prime Minister of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) from 7 July 1978 to 25 November 1980. Born in the department of Kombissiri, he attended medical school in Dakar, Seneg ...

in 1955, which joined the

Unified Democratic Party Unified Democratic Party (in French: ''Parti Démocratique Unifié''), was, despite its name, not a political party but an electoral alliance of two parties, the Voltaic Democratic Party (PDV-RDA) and the Social Party for the Emancipation of the ...

(PDU) in the following year. He became a diplomat for the new Republic of Upper Volta: after briefly representing Upper Volta at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

from February to May 1961, he was Ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 1961 to 1964, Ambassador to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

from 1966 to 1976, and Ambassador to France from 1966 until his retirement in 1976.Assemblée nationale - Les députés de la IVe République: Henri GUISSOU
/ref> He was the father of Joséphine Ouédraogo, a Burkinabé female politician who served as a minister during the presidency of Thomas Sankara and

Michel Kafando Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is a Burkinabé diplomat who served as the transitional President of Burkina Faso from 2014

References

External Links

Henri Guissou on the French National Assembly website
1910 births 1979 deaths People from Centre-Ouest Region Unified Democratic Party politicians French Senators of the Fourth Republic Senators of French West Africa Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Ambassadors of Burkina Faso to France Ambassadors of Burkina Faso to West Germany Permanent Representatives of Burkina Faso to the United Nations Burkinabé diplomats {{BurkinaFaso-politician-stub