Emmanuel Damongo-Dadet

Who was Emmanuel Damongo-Dadet?

Emmanuel J. Damongo-Dadet was the first Congolese ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. He was born in Brazzaville, at the time Congo was the Middle Congo, a colony that was ruled by France. In his early days, he was taught at Brazzaville and went on to become a teacher and director of École Urbaine at Dolisie. A renowned journalist, poet and novelist in his native country, he wrote Congolila which was published in 1950 and Panorama Congolais in 1962.

Emmanuel Damongo-Dadet was also a prefect in the colonial administration during the time Félix Eboué was the governor-general of the French Equatorial Africa. In 1945, he entered politics joining the Congolese Progressive Party that dominated the Congolese politics for years, and was elected councillor-representative in the Middle Congo territorial assembly in 1946. It was also a year later through the territorial assembly that he was elected to become the representative in the French Union assembly. In 1949, he abandoned the PPC long after it became a branch of Félix Houphouët-Boigny's party, the African Democratic Rally. As a result, he lost both seats in the elections to the Middle-Congo territorial assembly and the French Union assembly in 1952 and 1953.