Mongo Beti

@Writers, Facts and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Mongo Beti was a famous Cameroonian novelist known for his works such as ‘Mission Accomplished’ and ‘King Lazarus’ Cancer Celebrities Writers Novelists Alexandre Biyidi-Awala, better known under his pseudonym Mongo Beti, was a novelist and political essayist from Cameroon. His novels, which focus on the difficulties of maintaining African culture in post-colonial countries, often attacked French colonial policies or depicted the struggles of finding a sense of self in post-colonial Africa (a topic that has since gained popularity in African novels). Since he was born in Cameroon in a time when it was still a French colony, Beti was exposed to anti-colonial ideas from a young age, and often argued with his family and his peers over things like religion and politics, paving the way for his writings later in life. As a young man he became actively involved in colonial-politics in Paris, and eventually moved back to Cameroon to become involved in the independence movement there. But after being arrested, he returned to France as an exile. Although all of his novels focus heavily on the struggles of African people in colonial and post-colonial countries, Beti actually spent much of his life in France, where he first studied to gain a literature degree and later taught literature himself. However, his homeland always stayed close to his heart, and he eventually returned to Cameroon where he spent the last years of his life

Personal Details

Birthday: June 30, 1932 Died on: October 8, 2001 Nationality: Cameroonian Famous: Writers, Novelists Birth Place: Cameroon Gender: Male Sun Sign: Cancer Information Detail Birthday June 30, 1932 Died on October 8, 2001 Nationality Cameroonian Famous Writers, Novelists Birth Place Cameroon Gender Male Sun Sign Cancer Born in Cameroon Famous as Writer Died at Age 69

Cameroon

Mongo Beti born at Unsplash Birth Place

Beti married a French teacher named Odile Tobner whom he met in his time spent teaching in Rouen. They had three children. Unsplash Personal Life

He died in Douala, Cameroon on October 8, 2001, from renal complications. Unsplash Personal Life

Beti was born Alexandre Biyidi-Awala to parents Oscar Awala and Régin Alomo on June 30, 1932 in the small village of Akométan (55 km from the capital of Yaoundé) in Cameroon while it was still a colony of France. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life:

His family owned a cocoa plantation in the southern part of the country where he worked in his time away from school. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life:

When he was seven, Beti’s father drowned, leaving him to be raised by his mother, with whom he often argued over religion and colonialism. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life:

He was exposed to anti-colonial ideas and ideologies from an early age through associations with independent leader Ruben Um Nyobe and his supporters. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life:

He was sent to a missionary school in Mbalmayo for a time, but was eventually expelled for insubordination. At 13 he went to the capital to attend the ‘lycée Leclerc’. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life:

In 1954 while attending school in France, Beti published the novel ‘Ville cruelle’ (meaning ‘Cruel City’) under the pseudonym 'Eza Boto'. This was the only time he used that pen-name, and in the years following its release, he made moves to distance himself from the work. Unsplash Career

At this time the aspiring author became involved in Parisian-African politics in Paris, fueling the subject matter of his novels. Unsplash Career

Two years after the release of ‘Ville cruelle’, he released ‘Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba’ under the pseudonym Mongo Beti, in 1956, which he continued to use for the rest of his career. This novel is still considered by many to be his best novel. Unsplash Career

His next work ‘Mission terminée’ was published in 1957. This work won the ‘Prix Sainte Beuve’ the year after its release. Unsplash Career

He released one more novel while attending school in France. The budding writer then went silent for a period of 14 years as he devoted himself to the independence struggle in his homeland. Unsplash Career

His work ‘Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba’ (‘The Poor Christ of Bomba’) released in 1956, was his first major work, and earned him a name in the writing world. It was originally released in French, but has since been released in many different languages. Unsplash Major Works

In 1957 his award-winning follow-up work ‘Mission terminee’ was published. Although it won the ‘Sainte-Beuve’ prize in 1958, the work has also been criticized by fellow writers such as Chinua Achebe for romanticizing Africa’s pre-colonial past. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	June 30, 1932
Died on	October 8, 2001
Nationality	Cameroonian
Famous	Writers, Novelists
Birth Place	Cameroon
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Cancer
Born in	Cameroon
Famous as	Writer
Died at Age	69

Mongo Beti

Cameroonian

Jun 30, 1932

Biography

Personal Details

Cameroon