Sony Lab'ou Tansi

Sony Labou Tansi (actually Marcel Ntsoni; born July 5, 1947 in Kimuensa, Belgian Congo, † June 14, 1995 in Brazzaville ) was a writer from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Life

Sony Labou Tansi went to Brazzaville in the former French Congo to school. After graduating, he worked as a teacher of English and French, and wrote his first plays.

In 1979 he founded Brazzaville in the rocado Zulu Théàtre, which was known with tours in France. In the same year he published his first novel, La Vie et Academy, which won the Prix Spécial du Festival de la Francophonie. Tansi was also winner of the Grand Prix littéraire de l' Afrique noire. His plays have been performed in Paris, Dakar and New York.

In the 1990s, he was also involved in the Congolese politics and in 1992 was elected deputy. Because he spoke out against the one-party, he was harassed by the Congolese government. Sony Labou Tansi died in 1995 of complications from AIDS.

Works (selection)

• La Vie et Academy (1979, Ger -entangled Life 1981)
• L' État honteux (1981, Germany The unholy Constitution 1984)
• L' Anté - Peuple (1983, dt The deadly virtue of Comrade Director 1985)
• Les Yeux du Volcan (1988 )
• Le Commencement of douleurs (1995 )
• The Hippocratic Oath. Narrative. Gudrun Honke, eds: The moon woman. 23 new stories from francophone sub-Saharan Africa. Übers Sigrid large. Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal 1998 ISBN 3872948059 pp. 37-47 ( with a short biography )