André Gide

André Paul Guillaume Gide (November 22, 1869 – February 19, 1951) was a French author and, at times, a spokesman for gay rights {{dubious}}. A renown literary experimenter and socially involved man, Gide's career spanned from the symbolist movement to the advent of anticolonialism in-between the two World Wars. In 1947, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Africa

From July 1926 to May 1927, he travelled through the French Equatorial Africa colony with his lover Marc Allégret. He went successively in Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), in Oubangui-Chari (now the Central African Republic), briefly in Chad and then in Cameroun before returning to France. He related his peregrinations in a journal called Travels in the Congo (French: Voyage au Congo) and Return from Chad (French: Retour du Tchad). In this published journal, he criticized the behavior of French business interests in the Congo and inspired reform. In particular, he strongly criticized the Large Concessions regime (French: régime des Grandes Concessions), i.e. a regime according to which part of the colony was conceded to French companies and where these companies could exploit all area's natural resources, in particular rubber. He related for instance how natives were forced to leave their village during several weeks to collect rubber in the forest, and went as far as comparing their exploitation to slavery.

Related Topics:
1927 - French Equatorial Africa - Colony - Marc Allégret - Middle Congo - Republic of the Congo - Oubangui-Chari - Central African Republic - Chad - Cameroun - Travels in the Congo - Natural resource - Rubber - Slavery

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