Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury (born 7 February 1938) is a prominent

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

ian

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and author. Kuoh-Moukoury was born in 1938 in Douala,

. Her father was

Jacques Kuoh-Moukouri Jacques Kuoh-Moukouri (1909-2002) was a Cameroonian writer and Cameroon's Ambassador to the United States. He is most well known for his 1963 book ''Doigts noirs.'' He was born in the Akwa District of Douala on 6 June 1909 and attended secondary s ...

, a prominent Cameroonian writer and diplomat. After

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in Cameroon, she attended

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

and

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She served as President of the Union of African and Malagasy Women (Union des Femmes Africaines et Malgaches). Kuoh-Moukoury is best known for her novel '' Rencontres essentielles'' (''Essential Encounters'' 1969) which is the first novel written by a woman in

francophone Africa African French (french: français africain) is the generic name of the varieties of the French language spoken by an estimated 141 million people in Africa in 2018, spread across 34 countries and territories.29 full members of the Organisa ...

. It relates the story of Flo, a troubled woman, and her struggles to keep her husband after she is found to be

infertile Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state ...

. Her second novel is awaiting publication and is "based on the life of political martyr

Alexandre Douala Manga Bell Alexandre Douala Manga Bell (3 December 1897 – 19 September 1966 in Douala) was head of the Duala people in Cameroon, German officer and French politician. Biography Youth in Germany Alexandre Douala Manga Bell - then named Alexander Duala M ...

." Her 1973 essay "Les couples dominos" ("Domino Couples") tackles the topic of the dynamics of interracial couples. She is also the author of many articles on political activism and feminism in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

References

1938 births French feminist writers Living people People from Yaoundé French women novelists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French women writers Cameroonian women novelists Cameroonian novelists {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub