Théophile Nata (1947
– 11 June 2022) was a
Beninese politician and a former member of the
Pan-African Parliament
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...
.
Education
Nata attended
Natitingou Catholic Primary School for four years starting in 1954 and ended in 1960. He graduated from the Sainte Jeanne d' Arc de Oudah, Southern
Benin after seven years.
[
He studied French and literature for two years at the Higher Education Centre of Lomé, Togo, as well as at ]Abidjan University
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city pr ...
in 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 ...
and the Sorbonne. He received a Master's Degree which dealt with colonisation and decolonisation in the novels of Aimé Césaire.[
Nata acquired a PhD in Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne in 1976. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree, a Master of Arts and a Postgraduate diploma from the International Institute of Phonetics, Paris III University. He was appointed associate professor of French Language, Literature and Linguistics at the National University of Benin in 1976 as well.][
]
International and governmental work
Nata was the co-coordinator of the AGECOOP Project within the Directorate of National Commissions and Councils
Directorate may refer to:
Contemporary
*Directorates of the Scottish Government
* Directorate-General, a type of specialised administrative body in the European Union
* Directorate-General for External Security, the French external intelligence ag ...
. He became director of the Asia Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in 1978. In 1988, Nata was appointed as Benin's Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to Algeria and then as Beninese Ambassador to the United States.[
He was a participant in the 1990 National Conference and was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Benin's transitional government that same year. In 1991, he was made Commander of the National Order of Benin.][
Nata served as Minister of Youth and Sports from 1991 to 1993. He founded a political party in 1992. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 1995 parliamentary election and was elected by the National Assembly as its Second Vice-president. In 1999, he was appointed Minister of Rural Development; he
gained the rank of High Officer of the National Order of Benin in 2000.
From 2001 to 2003, he served as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.][ He was again elected as a deputy in the National Assembly in the March 2003 parliamentary election.List of deputies elected in the 2003 election]
, Benin government page .
Nata has served in the Pan-African Parliament since 2004. Following the death of Jerome Sacca Kina Guezere in 2005, he became Fourth Vice-president of the Pan-African Parliament.
See also
* List of members of the Pan-African Parliament
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nata, Theophile
1947 births
2022 deaths
University of Paris alumni
Members of the National Assembly (Benin)
Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Benin
Foreign ministers of Benin
Ambassadors of Benin to the United States
Ambassadors of Benin to Algeria