born Oct. 18, 1905?, Yamoussoukro, French West Africa
died Dec. 7, 1993, Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
President of Côte d'Ivoire from independence until his death (1960–93).
He worked as a rural doctor and planter before entering politics in the 1940s. In the late 1950s he was a member of France's National Assembly and cabinet and simultaneously president of the territorial assembly and mayor of Abidjan. As president he pursued liberal free-enterprise politics and developed a strong cash-crop economy, cooperating closely with the French. Under his rule Côte d'Ivoire became one of the most prosperous nations in sub-Saharan Africa. His later years were marred by an economic downturn, civil unrest, and criticism of the enormous Roman Catholic basilica that he had built at Yamoussoukro , his birthplace.