Simone Saint-Dénis

Simone Saint-Dénis (1934 – 2008) was a trade union leader from Gabon, who played an active role in politics in the post-independence era.

Simone Saint-Denis
Born1934
Libreville
Died2008
Libreville
Occupation(s)Trade unionist; Teacher

Biography

Saint-Dénis was born in Libreville in 1934, to parents from the Mpongwe ethnic group.[1] Her father was Mathurin Anguiley, a politician; her mother's identity is unrecorded.[1] Her father adopted the surname Saint-Dénis after he discovered that his birth father was a Danish sailor, rather than his mother's husband.[1] Her father had served in the French military and the family had wine and bread at most meals.[2]

In 1948 Saint-Dénis completed her secondary education at a Catholic mission school and immediately became engaged to Balé - a timber camp worker.[1] At the new, her father forced her out of the house, the engagement was short and broken off by Balé; Saint-Dénis then moved in with her mother.[1] There were few jobs for educated women in post-war Libreville, so Saint-Dénis decided to train as a teacher.[1] In 1950 she began to teach at the school of the Catholic mission to Donguila, a village in the remote Estuaire Province, where most of the children spoke Fang.[1]

Trade unionism

The poor pay of teachers first drew Saint-Dénis to become involved with unionism through the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (CFTC).[1] Through Saint-Dénis' activism, the CFTC negotiated pay increases for teachers at Catholic schools in the 1950s.[1] Her work with the CFTC continued after Gabon's independence and from 1960-67 she represented Gabonese unions at a variety of international meetings, travelling to Copenhagen, Rome, and Bucharest.[1] However after an attempted military coup in 1964, the Gabonese government under Léon M’ba tried to increase control over unions.[1] His successor Oumar Bongo Ondimba consolidated control, leaving little room for trade unions and their representatives like Saint-Dénis.[1]

In the 1970s, the Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG) coerced Saint-Dénis into accepting a job for them organising musical events, where women's groups representing the diversity of Gabon sang and danced to show support for the PDG.[1] Despite this she remained involved with unionism and in 1976 was elected Joint Secretary of the Fédération Syndicale Gabonaise (FESYGA) with Owondault Berre; in 1980 she was elected Secretary.[3]

Personal life

Saint-Dénis had two children with a Gabonese diplomat.[1] She retired from the PDG in 1981 and died in Libreville in 2008 from complications due to diabetes.[1] In her later life she spoke to many Western researchers, whose recordings of her life provide an insightful perspective on twentieth-century Gabon.[4][5][6]

References
  1. Rich, Jeremy (2012), Akyeampong, Emmanuel K; Gates, Henry Louis (eds.), "Saint-Dénis, Simone", Dictionary of African Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5, retrieved 2020-08-06
  2. Rich, Jeremy (Jeremy McMaster) (2007). A workman is worthy of his meat : food and colonialism in the Gabon Estuary. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8032-0741-7. OCLC 139997529.
  3. Ndombet, Wilson-André (November 2009). Partis politiques et Unité nationale au Gabon (1957-1989). Karthala Editions. p. 154. ISBN 9782811132002.
  4. Rich, Jeremy (2004). "Troubles at the Office: Clerks, State Authority, and Social Conflict in Gabon, 1920-45". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 38 (1): 58–87. doi:10.2307/4107268. JSTOR 4107268.
  5. Rich, Jeremy (2003). ""Une Babylone Noire": Interracial Unions in Colonial Libreville, c. 1860-1914". French Colonial History. 4: 145–169. doi:10.1353/fch.2003.0023. ISSN 1539-3402. JSTOR 41938157. S2CID 143314435.
  6. Jean-Baptiste, Rachel. (2014). Conjugal Rights : Marriage, Sexuality, and Urban Life in Colonial Libreville, Gabon. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-4503-7. OCLC 885123165.
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