Nouréini Tidjani-Serpos (born 15 January 1946 in

Porto-Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Benin, second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following Bri ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

) is a distinguished scholar and writer. He studied literature in France and obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

and a D.Lit. in the subject from the University of Lille III in 1987. He has served

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in various capacities, both as a representative of Benin and as a senior official of the organization.

Career

From 1991 to 1998, he was the minister-counselor, deputy permanent delegate, and then ambassador and permanent delegate of Benin to UNESCO. He was a member of the executive council and the Headquarters Committee, and played a leading role in several initiatives, such as the International Conference on Cultural Policy Research, the 11th General Assembly of Member-States to the

World Heritage Convention The World Heritage Convention, formally the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, is an international treaty signed on 23 November 1972, which created the World Heritage Sites, with the primary goals o ...

, and the committee of the

. From 1995 to 1997, he was the president of the executive board and, from 1998 to 2010, he was the Assistant Director-General in the Africa Department. As an

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, he has published many books and articles in magazines. He was also involved in several academic journals, such as the Nigerian Journal of Humanities, the Journal of the Literary Society of Nigeria, and

Présence Africaine ''Présence Africaine'' (French for ''African Presence'') is a pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris, France, and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, ''Présence Africaine'' expanded to include ...

. He has been a teacher of Comparative African Literature since 1972, at the

University of Paris VIII Paris 8 University (), or usually the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis or Paris 8, is a public university in the Paris Metropolitan Area, Greater Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public ...

, the

National University of Benin The University of Abomey-Calavi ''()'' is the principal public university in the west African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of ...

, and the Federal University of Benin City in Nigeria. He has also held various management positions at the university level, such as the chair of the Modern Humanities department, a member of the Administrative Council of the University for Social, Cultural, and Environmental Research, the Chairman of the board of the Council of Administration for the University of Benin City’s secondary pilot school, and the national president of the Association of Modern Literature of Nigeria.

Publications

* Maïté (poésie).Cotonou:Imprimerie ABM,1967 * Agba'Nla (poésie).Paris:P.J.Oswald,1973 * Le nouveau souffle (poésie).Benin-City: Ambik Press,1986. * Aspects de la critique africaine (critique littéraire). Paris; Lomé:Editions Silex;Editions Haho,1987. * Porto-Novo, un rêve brésilien (poésie )en collaboration avec Jean Caffé.Paris:Ed.Kathala, Ed.ASSOCLE,1993. * Aspects de la critique africaine (Tome2): l'intellectuel africain face au roman,(critique littéraire).Paris: Editions Silex; Editions Nouvelles du Sud,1996. * Bamikilé (roman).Paris:Présence Africaine,1996.

Honorary distinctions

* 1992: Knight of the Order des Arts et Culture (France) * 1992: Commander of the

Palmes académiques Palmes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Sir Brian Palmes, English landowner and politician * Sir Guy Palmes, English politician * Brian Palmes MP * Lieutenant General Francis Palmes * Major Billie Palmes * Captain Laurence P ...

(France) * 1996: Officer of the National Order of Merit (Benin) * 2000: Officer of the National Order of Mono (

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

) * 2004: Officer of the National Order of the Ivory Coast * 2005: Commander of the National Order of

* 2008: Officer of the National Order of Niger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidjani-Serpos, Noureini 1946 births Living people UNESCO officials Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques People from Porto-Novo Beninese officials of the United Nations