Henri Lopès

Henri Lopès studied at Sorbonne. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is literary activity, politics and diplomacy. Positions recorded include Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo and ambassador of the Republic of the Congo to France. Distinctions recorded are Grand prix littéraire en poésie d'Afrique noire, honorary doctorate from University of Paris-XII, Grand prix de la francophonie and Knight of the Legion of Honour.

• Name — Henri Lopes • Office1 — Prime Minister of the People's Republic of the Congo • President1 — Marien Ngouabi • Term Start1 — 28 July 1973 • Term End1 — 18 December 1975 • Predecessor1 — Alfred Raoul • Successor1 — Louis Sylvain Goma • Office2 — Ambassador of the Republic of the Congo to France • President2 — Denis Sassou-Nguesso • Term Start2 — 26 October 1998 • Term End2 — 12 July 2016 • Successor2 — Rodolphe Adada • Born — 12 September 1937 • Birthplace — Léopoldville, Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo) • Died — 2 November 2023 • Place of death — Suresnes, France • Party — Congolese Party of Labour • Alma Mater — Sorbonne Henri Lopes (12 September 1937 – 2 November 2023) was a Congolese writer, diplomat, and politician. He was Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from 1973 to 1975, and served as Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to France from 1998 to 2016.

Lopes was born across the Congo River in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), the capital of the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), on 12 September 1937. He received his primary education in Brazzaville and Bangui in Central African Republic, then went to France in 1949 for his secondary and higher education. While there, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Black African Students and was President of the Association of Congolese Students from 1957 to 1965. Returning to Congo in 1965, he was a history professor at the École normale supérieure d'Afrique Centrale in Brazzaville from 1965 to 1966, then Director-General of Education from 1966 to 1968.

Under President Marien Ngouabi, Lopes became Minister of National Education in January 1969 until becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 1971. He was included on the five-member Political Bureau of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in December 1972. Subsequently, he was Prime Minister from 1973 to 1975. He visited China in early 1975, but could not meet with Chairman Mao Zedong because Mao was ill. Lopes and his government resigned following a meeting of the PCT Central Committee in December 1975, and Louis Sylvain Goma was appointed to replace him. After working as political director of the party newspaper Etumba from 1975 to 1977, Lopes was reappointed to the government as minister of finance on 5 April 1977; he served in that position until Justin Lekoundzou was appointed to replace him in December 1980. Subsequently, he worked at UNESCO as Assistant Director-General for Culture and Deputy Director-General for Africa from 1981 to 1998. On 26 October 1998, Lopes presented his credentials as Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to France; while posted in Paris, he was additionally accredited as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Vatican City. In 2002, Lopes was a candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the international organization La Francophonie, but he withdrew his candidacy under pressure on the night before the vote, which was held on 20 October 2002 and resulted in the unanimous election of Senegal's Abdou Diouf. In mid-2015, it was reported that Lopes planned to retire from his post as Ambassador to France, which he did later that year.

Henri Lopes died in Suresnes, France, on 2 November 2023, at the age of 86.