Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Publisher
World Libraries
Abstract
Dim Delobsom was one of the first indigenous colonial bureaucrats in the French administration of Upper Volta. Born in 1897, he rapidly rose through the ranks of colonial administration, becoming a high-level functionary. He also served as the resident anthropologist of the dominant Mossi tribe of Upper Volta, and published numerous books and articles on Mossi customs. Delobsom fell afoul of an important faction of the colonial apparatus, however, when he decided to assume the chieftaincy of his natal village upon his father's death. Colonial officials and French Catholic priests thought he would be compromised as a bureaucrat-chief, and sought to block his investiture. Delobsom died under mysterious circumstances shortly after being named chief, in 1940. His life reveals some important dimensions of the fractured colonial experience.
Recommended Citation
Kevane, Michael and Sissao, Alain Joseph, The Cost of Getting Books Read in Rural Africa: Estimates from a Survey of Library Use in Burkina Faso. World Libraries, 14(2) . Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1093400
