Patrice Kayo is an African scholar, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 born in 1942 in Bandjoun

Bandjoun

Bandjoun is a town and commune in West Province, Cameroon. Bandjoun is the capital of the Banjun people. The chief dwells in Hialah, and has many wives....

, West Province, Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

.
He is also known for his radical opposition to Paul Biya

Paul Biya

Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who has been the President of Cameroon since 6 November 1982. A native of Cameroon's south, Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime...

's political regime, and his advocacy for freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...

 and human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

.

He served as chairman of the National Association of Poets and Writers of Cameroon from 1969 to 1981, and was one of the founders of the International Federation of French-speaking Writers established in 1982 in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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Patrice Kayo holds a B.A and Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in Education from the University of Yaounde

University of Yaoundé

The University of Yaoundé is a leading university in Cameroon, located in Yaoundé.It was built with the help of France and opened in 1962 as the Federal University of Yaoundé, dropping the "Federal" in 1972 when the country was reorganized....

, then a Ph.D from the University of Paris

University of Paris

The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...

, Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

, in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Works

• Les fetes tragiques (Novel, Presses Universitaires d'Afrique, 2007)
• Tout le long des saisons (Novel, Editions CLE, 2001)
• Anthologie de la poesie camerounaise (Collection of Poetry, Presses Universitaires de Yaounde, 2000)
• Fables des Montagnes (Tales for children, Editions CLE, 1998) For ages 12 to 14.
• Chansons populaires bamileke (Imprimerie Saint Paul, 1996)
• En attendant l'Aurore (Collection of Poetry, CLE, 1988)
• Les sauterelles (Novel, Editions CLE, 1986)
• Dechirements (Silex, 1983)
• Fables et devinettes de mon enfance (Tales for children, Editions CLE, 1979)