Study Day in Tribute to President Auguste Denise, Ivorian statesman, Travelling Companion of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Date: November 30, 2019
Location: Foundation Headquarters
Study Day in Tribute to President Auguste Denise, Ivorian statesman, Travelling Companion of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Date: November 30, 2019
Location: Foundation Headquarters
Commemoration of December 7
Thanksgiving Mass for the repose of the soul of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Date: December 7, 2019
Place: Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
At the end of the days commemorating the birth of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the winners of the second edition of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for Research were awarded on the evening of Friday, 18 October 2019, during a gala dinner hosted by the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research (FHB Foundation). This prize is awarded each year for the best research work relating to President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. This award ceremony was held with the effective presence of Mrs Henriette Konan Bédié, wife of the President of the PDCI-RDA and Senator Mrs Makani Diaby, 1st Vice-President of the Senate, who represented the President of the said institution.
On the afternoon of Friday, October 18, 2019, a dedication ceremony was held at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research (FHB Foundation) for books published by the Éditions de la Fondation Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Editions FHB) and/or on “the father of the Ivorian nation”. Several authors took part in this dedication ceremony. They were Professor Amani N’Goran, author of the book “Oedipal Psychodrama – Psychodynamic Stakes of the Football Game”. The following were also present: Professor Frédéric Grah Mel who presented “The Biography of Félix Houphouët-Boigny” (three volumes), Mrs Sophie Koné Boating with the comic strip “Félix Houphouët-Boigny”, Professor Thot’o Amani Sroboua for “The Akhan and Pharaonic Egypt”, Professor Ferdinand TIONA OUATTARA for “History of the Institute of African History, Art and Archaeology (IHAAA) of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University of Côte d’Ivoire (1969-2017)”, Mr. Jérôme Kouakou Ya for “Les hommages publics à Félix Houphouët-Boigny”, and Professor Jean-Noël Loucou with the six volumes of “Discours et Messages”.
In the presence of a very varied audience composed largely of academics, the Secretary General of the FHB Foundation announced the publication of five new books on “the Yamoussoukro Ram” in 2020, including the Proceedings of the international symposium on his peace work. He took the opportunity to invite Ivorians to buy the books on the life of the “Sage of Africa”, because so far, only three thousand copies of “Speeches and Messages” and only one thousand copies of the Proceedings of the symposium on the “Political Thought of Félix Houphouët-Boigny” have been sold.
After speaking successively to enlighten the audience present on the contents of their works, the authors proceeded to the actual dedication.
On October 18, 2019, there was a thanksgiving Mass in Saint Augustine Church in Yamoussoukro in memory of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It was officiated by Monsignor Alexis Touably. The latter wished that “the founder of modern Côte d’Ivoire” and his “immense work” be permanently in the spirit of the people of Côte d’Ivoire to whom he always advised to make peace their second religion. “Let us not speak of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the past tense, for a man of such greatness of soul can neither be of the past nor outdated. It is up to us to walk together on the paths he has traced out for us as the founding father of our nation,” he advised. He also stressed that “it is true that peace is a gift from God, but peace will not come to us from Heaven as a finished product, for peace is like a loincloth that we must weave together”.
The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research organized the Commemorative Days of the Birthday of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny on October 17 and 18, 2019. On Friday, October 18, 2019, a thanksgiving mass in memory of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny was held at the Saint Augustin Church in Yamoussoukro in the presence of President Henri Konan Bédié, members of the Houphouët-Boigny family and PDCI RDA militants. This Mass was led by Bishop Alexis Touably.
“Let us not speak of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the past tense, for a man of such greatness of soul can neither be of the past nor outdated. It is up to us to walk together on the paths he has traced out for us as the founding father of our nation,” he advised. He also stressed that “it is true that peace is a gift from God, but peace will not come to us from Heaven as a finished product, for peace is like a loincloth that we must weave together”.
Thursday, October 17, 2019 marked the beginning of the commemoration of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s birth day with a study day that was furnished by two panels on the themes: “Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the man of culture” and “Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the pan-Africanist”. This opportunity enabled many young students from the political and administrative capital, as well as the populations in their political and socio-professional diversity, to revisit the actions carried out by the “Apostle of Peace”.
The Secretary General of the FHB Foundation, in turn, said that in addition to the celebration of the 114th anniversary of the birth of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, his institution was celebrating two major events in 2019. Namely the thirtieth anniversaries of the Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men held in Yamoussoukro which gave birth to the concept of culture of peace and the creation of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Prize for Peace Research which this year distinguished the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy AHMED ALI before he received the Nobel Peace Prize 2019.
Ms Anne LEMAISTRE, representative of the UNESCO Office in Abidjan, for her part, wished that the year 2020 be proclaimed “the year of the culture of peace” in Côte d’Ivoire.
Professor Robert NIAMKEY KOFFI, President of the Scientific Committee of this day indicated that the exemplary life of Houphouët-Boigny appears as a symbol. For, the immense works of the “father of the Ivorian nation” are landmarks for Côte d’Ivoire. Addressing the themes of the day, the academic told his audience that Félix Houphouët-Boigny was both a man of culture but also a pan-Africanist, contrary to the image of Epinal that we wanted to stick to him, calling him a gravedigger of African unity, one of the artisans of the balkanization of African states. For him, this is essentially erroneous. He also pointed out the extent of the knowledge of the modern world, of the ancient history of this great statesman.
A total of eleven (11) communications were delivered during this scientific day by academics.
It should be noted that the Chief Executive Secretary of the PDCI-GDR, Professor Maurice KAKOU GUIKAHUÉ enhanced with his presence the opening of this study day.