MY COUNTRY, AFRICA: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria

304pp., illus., paperback, New Edition, Verso, London & New York, (1983) 2025

ISBN: 9781839768712

New introduction by Adom Getachew and Thomas Meaney.

Andrée Blouin (1921-1986) - once called the most dangerous woman in Africa - played a leading role in the struggles for decolonisation in the 1950s and 1960s, advising the postcolonial leaders of Algeria, both Congos, Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea, and Ghana.

Born in French Equatorial Africa, abandoned at the age of three and placed in a colonial orphanage, she was radicalised by the death of her two-year-old son, who was denied malaria medication by French officials because he was one-quarter African. In Guinea, she was active in Sékou Touré’s campaign for independence, met leaders of the liberation movement in the Belgian Congo, and served as an adviser to Patrice Lumumba.

"A remarkable autobiography that feels like a relevant reflection on the present, not a historical account ... Blouin’s voice rings loud and clear throughout her account of her life, conversational and at times proudly regaling. I found myself gripped, like a junior listening to a family elder, and wondered how she seemed so comfortable in her skin and in command of her story despite such painful experiences." Nesrine Malik,  Guardian

"A moving testimony to political radicalization, independence, and the skillful use of language as a weapon in the hands of a fearless activist. As a woman in the male-dominated world of state leaders in the 1960s, her biography is unique." Von Julian Weber,  Die Tageszeitung