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International experts

The production of the texts available on this platform has involved several international experts. Each e-module was scientifically validated by a historian, external to the project, specialized in the history of the corresponding woman figure and the historical context.

Some of the experts are members of either the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO General History of Africa Project or the UNESCO Slave Route Project. For other figures, when additional expertise was needed, the project team commissioned other renowned historians. After each module’s scientific validation, the entire platform was validated by the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO General History of Africa.

Bahru Zewde

Scientific validation of the texts on Taytu Betul

Member of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Project "The General History of Africa," Bahru Zewde is Emeritus Professor of History at Addis Ababa University. He has authored several books and articles, most notably "A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991" (Second Edition) and "Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia: The Reformist Intellectuals of the Early Twentieth Century." He served as Chair of the Department of History at Addis Ababa University (1982-1986) and Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at the same University (1993-1996). Bahru Zewde was also Executive Director of the Forum for Social Studies and is currently Vice President of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Simão Souindoula

Scientific validation of the texts on Njinga Mbandi

Member of the Scientific Committee on the UNESCO project "The Slave Route", Simão Souindoula is a historian and renowned Angolan anthropologist. An expert on Bantu civilization and the history of slavery, he is the author of numerous articles and books on the influence of African cultures in America, the Caribbean and Asia. In addition, Professor Souindoula has managed the National Museum of Slavery in Angola and has taught for several years at the Higher Institute for Sciences in Luanda Institute (ISCED). In 2005, he created the Organization Networking Bantulink to promote the diversity of Bantu culture. Today, Simão Souindoula is a lecturer and researcher and is solicited by many international organizations, such as the African Union, UNESCO and the European Union, for his scientific expertise.

Sylvia Serbin

Author of the script of the comic strip on Yennega and coauthor of thexts on the Mulatto Solitude, Njinga Mbandi and the women soldiers of Dahomey

Journalist, historian and writer, Sylvia Serbin resides in France. With Afro-Caribbean origins, she was born and raised in Senegal and lived for 30 years on the African continent where she visited a number of countries. She is the author of "Queens of Africa and Heroines of the Black Diaspora" (Editions Sépia), one of the first piece of work devoted to African women who played a significant role in the history of some fifteen countries on the Continent as well as in the American and Caribbean diaspora, from antiquity to the start of the 20th Century.

Nelly Schmidt

Contribution to the texts on the Mulatto Solitude

Member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route project, Nelly Schmidt is a Professor at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne. Doctor of Human and Social Sciences and Director of Research at CNRS, she is also a member of the Graduate School of Contemporary History (Paris IV) and the Centre for Research on Caribbean-America (CERCAM). Specialist in the history of the Caribbean and Americas in modern times, her research focuses on the abolition of slavery, and European colonial policies. She has authored several books including “Victor Schoelcher“ (Fayard, 1999 reissue), “Abolitionnistes de l'esclavage et réformateurs des colonies, 1820-1851. Analyse et documents“ (Karthala, 2001), “Histoire du métissage“ (La Martinière, 2003), and “L'abolition de l'esclavage. Cinq siècles de combats, 16e-20e siècles“ (Fayard, 2005). In 2004, she wrote the booklet “Struggles Against Slavery“ on the occasion of the Year for the Commemoration of the Struggle Against Slavery and It’s Abolition, organized by UNESCO.

Frédéric Régent

Contribution to the texts on the Mulatto Solitude

Frederic Regent is a lecturer in History at the l'Institut d'Histoire de la Révolution française (University Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne). He previously taught at the University Antilles-Guyane for 6 years and at colleges in Guadeloupe for 9 years. Frederic Regent specializes in colonial questions during the Revolution and slave societies in French colonies. He is the author of "Esclavage, métissage, liberté, la Révolution française en Guadeloupe" (Grasset, 2004), and "France et ses esclaves", (Grasset, 2007, réed Pluriel-Fayard, 2012), and co-author of "Pour quoi faire la Révolution" (Agone, 2012).

Bako Rasoarifetra

Author of the texts on Gisèle Rabesahala

Bako Rasoarifetra is a historian, archaeologist and specializes in general museology. Since 1996, she has been seconded to the Institute of Civilizations / Museum of Art and Archaeology to undertake archaeological work on the Rova of Antananarivo. The area of her research has extended to include archaeological and ethnographic pearls and Malagasy textile traditions. She is a lecturer at the Department of Civilizations in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Antananarivo.

Jean-Claude Rabeherifara

Scientific validation of the texts on Gisèle Rabesahala

Jean-Claude Rabeherifara is a sociologist, lecturer and researcher, and the deputy director of CILDA (Centre International des Industries de la Langue et du Dévelopment – Afrique, Amériques, Asia) where he began Africanist anthropological research on work and workers, social communication, and new social movements. He is currently a visiting professor at the Universities of Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo), Bangangté (Cameroon) and Antananarivo (Madagascar). Author of over fifty articles in the quarterly journal Africa Today, he is responsible for publishing and co-authoring several books (in collaboration with the French publishing companies Karthala and Temps des Cerises, among others) on Africa and especially on Madagascar, on the subject of identity, orality, and social and political processes. Jean-Claude Rabeherifara is also a columnist for Echoes of Capricorn, a radio program on Radio Fréquence Paris-Plurielle. He is the vice president of the Consortium of Solidarity with Madagascar and director of the NGO SoaMad (Solidarity with Madagascar).

Vero Rabakoliarifetra

Author of the texts on Gisèle Rabesahala

Vero Rabakoliarifetra successively studied Business, Civil Law, French Language, and majored in Journalism (1985), and then began to write and direct documentaries (after 1993). Journalist-turned-filmmaker, in the early 90s she dedicated herself to the production and direction of documentaries focusing of the social situation of the Malagasy people. Currently, she is an independent director, and member of the Dean’s Club of Journalists who promote the culture of books and reading in Madagascar. Vero Rabakoliarifetra was also recently decorated as Commander of the Order of Arts, Literature and Culture in Madagascar.

Obioma Ofoego

Author of the texts (scripts, pedagogical unit, etc) on Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Wangari Maathai, Taytu Betul and Sojourner Truth

Obioma Ofoego was born and raised in London to an Irish mother and a Nigerian father. He obtained his BA at Oxford University, before gaining a three-year scholarship to study in Paris, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Paris IV-Sorbonne. He has also studied at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, the Université de Toulouse-II Le Mirail, and, briefly at the, Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife, Nigeria. His PhD, under the joint supervision of Christiane Fioupou and ’Biodun Jeyifo, is on the theatrical work of Wole Soyinka. He has translated academic articles on the translation of African oral poetry, the genetic history of Aimé Césaire’s “Les Armes miraculeuses”, as well as a documentary on Touareg poetry. He is currently co-translating the work of Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo, into Spanish (Argentina).

Issiaka Mandé

Scientific validation of the texts on Yennega

Issiaka Mande is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). He is interested in the socio-economic development of contemporary Africa. Most of his work focuses on the history of the people of West Africa with particular emphasis on migration flows in the region. He concentrates particularly on the colonial period and its influence on the structure of t migration with an analysis of the effects of forced labor and inequality in territorial investments of colonial power. In addition to examining these interactions, he also works on the diasporic character of international migration of West Africans and its impact on identity constructions.

Florida Amakobe Karani

Scientific validation of the texts on Wangari Maathai

Prof. Florida Amakobe Karani is a Professor of Education, University of Nairobi and has been Chancellor of Maseno University since 2008. She holds a doctorate in Education (Honoris Causa) from Maseno University (2009), a Ph.D in Education from the University of Pittsburgh (1979), an MA in History and Education, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, both from the University of Nairobi (1974 and 1976 respectively). Prof. Florida Amakobe Karani also has a BA (Hons) in History from the University of East Africa (1968). Positions she has held at the University of Nairobi include Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), College Principal, and Dean, where she also taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in education. Some public positions she has held in Kenya include Chair of the Governing Council of the Kenya Institute of Education, Chair of the Board of Adult Education, Commissioner in the Commission for Higher Education and Vice-Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the education system of Kenya. Her areas of research and publication include curriculum design, educational technology, adult education, teacher training through distance education, and the development of education. In 1995, Prof. Amakobe Karani led a study for the World Bank and the Ministry of Education on the cost and financing of education in Kenya, access, quality and equity in secondary education. . She has been a member of the UNESCO Scientific Committee for the Pedagogical Use of the General History of Africa since 2009. She has received national honors. Fellowships she has received include those of Senior Women Visiting - Association of Commonwealth Universities/Canadian International Development Agency (ACU/CIDA) (1998), the British Council (1995) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (1997).

Toyin Falola

Scientific validation of the texts on Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

Dr. Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. He has received various awards and honors, including the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the Texas Exes Teaching Award, the Ibn Khaldun Distinguished Award for Research Excellence, and the Distinguished Fellow, Ibadan Cultural Group. Toyin Falola has published numerous books, including “Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide”, “Nationalism and African Intellectuals”, “Tradition and Change in Africa” and “African Writers and Readers”. He is the co-editor of the “Journal of African Economic History, Series Editor of Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora”, and the Series Editor of the “Culture and Customs of Africa” by Greenwood Press.

Joseph Adande

Scientific validation of the texts on the women soldiers of Dahomey

Joseph Adande obtained a Ph.D from the University of Lomé in January 2012 on "Humor in African Art, Traditional and Contemporary." He has a Masters degree in History from the University of Abomey Calavi of the Republic of Benin, and holds a DEA (Masters) and a Ph.D from the University of Paris I, Panthéon Sorbonne, where he studied art and archaeology. Since 1986, he has been teaching art history and has published several articles on African art.