imported>Place Clichy: removed Category:Members of the National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic using HotCat: having been elected as a substitute ('suppléant'), he was not a Member. Death information from fr.wiki.

2023-10-13T10:02:14Z

removed Category:Members of the National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic using HotCat: having been elected as a substitute ('suppléant'), he was not a Member. Death information from fr.wiki.

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{{Short description|Beninese merchant and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
'''Paul Darboux''' (10 May 1919 in [[Cotonou]], [[French Dahomey]] - 1982 or 17 July 1985 in [[Abidjan]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Houngnikpo|first=Mathurin|title=Historical Dictionary of Benin|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield.|isbn=0810871718|page=132}}</ref> was a [[Benin]]ese merchant and politician, most active when his country was known as [[Republic of Dahomey|Dahomey]].

==Early life==
Darboux was born on 10 May 1919 in [[Cotonou]], then the economic capital of [[French Dahomey]], to a noble family from [[Djougou]]. He soon became an important merchant, and a power base rapidly grew around him, among the [[Dendi people|Dendi]] and [[Soninke Wangara|Wangara]] peoples of the north. He had ambitions on the Dahomeyan political scene, and helped finance [[Hubert Maga]]'s deputy campaigns.<ref name=Decalo51>{{Harvnb|Decalo|1976|p=51}}.</ref>

==Political career==
In the [[1951 French legislative election in Dahomey|legislative election]] of 17 June 1951, when Dahomey was allowed an additional representative in the [[French National Assembly]], Maga ran for that office. As per a May 1951 electoral law, each candidate had to give the name of another who would occupy the second seat in the event that the other party's first candidate came in third or below.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ronen|1975|pp=92–93}}.</ref> Maga decided to run with Darboux, and won the election.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ronen|1975|p=94}}.</ref>

He founded his own political party, the [[Union of Independents of Dahomey|Défense des Intérêts Économiques]], in 1956. This would occasionally go under the names of ''Union des Indépendants du Dahomey'' or ''Indépendents du Nord'' during his long political career. In the [[1957 Dahomeyan Territorial Assembly election]], he narrowly won the district of [[Djougou]] and gained himself a seat. Darboux allied with [[Sourou-Migan Apithy]], and was rewarded with the post of Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in Apithy's government of 1958. The new minister owned the [[trade union]] Syndicat des Commerçants Africains du Dahomey, which he used to advance his political aspirations.<ref name=Decalo51/>

President [[Hubert Maga]] retained Darboux in his administration from 1960 to 1963 as Minister of Economics and Commerce. He gained power in the [[Atakora Department|Atakora]] region and hatred in [[Djougou]].<ref name=Decalo51/> On October 28, 1963, Chief of Staff of the 800-man [[Benin Armed Forces|Dahomeyan Army]] [[Christophe Soglo]] overthrew Maga and established his own regime.<ref>{{Harvnb|Decalo|1973|p=474}}.</ref> In its wake, Darboux was imprisoned for mishandling fiscal resources. His whereabouts were unknown until 1970, when he campaigned for Maga in the upcoming election.<ref name=Decalo51/> When a [[Presidential Council (Benin)|Presidential Council]] form of government was established that year, Darboux was voted president of the [[National Assembly (Benin)|Assemblée Consultative Nationale]],<ref name=Decalo52>{{Harvnb|Decalo|1976|p=52}}.</ref> a consultative assembly. After the [[1972 Dahomeyan coup d'état|October 1972 coup]], the Assemblée was dismissed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Decalo|1976|p=20}}.</ref>

In 1974, he went into exile in [[Côte d'Ivoire]], and died on 17 July 1985 in [[Abidjan]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Decalo|first=Samuel|date=April 1973|title=Regionalism, Politics, and the Military in Dahomey|journal=The Journal of Developing Areas|publisher=College of Business, Tennessee State University |volume=7|issue=3|jstor=4190033|pages=449–478}}.
* {{citation|last=Decalo|first=Samuel|title=Historical Dictionary of Dahomey (People's Republic of Benin)|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=[[Metuchen, New Jersey]]|year=1976|isbn=0-8108-0833-1|oclc=82503}}.
* {{citation|last=Ronen|first=Dov|title=Dahomey: Between Tradition and Modernity|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=[[Ithaca, New York]]|year=1975|isbn=0-8014-0927-6|oclc=1527290}}.
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darboux, Paul}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cotonou]]
[[Category:People from Djougou]]
[[Category:People of French West Africa]]
[[Category:Economy ministers of Benin]]
[[Category:Labor ministers of Benin]]
[[Category:Social affairs ministers of Benin]]
[[Category:Trade ministers of Benin]]
[[Category:Presidents of the National Assembly (Benin)]]
[[Category:Beninese merchants]]
[[Category:Exiled politicians]]
[[Category:Beninese emigrants to Ivory Coast]]

Paul Darboux - Revision history

imported>Place Clichy: removed Category:Members of the National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic using HotCat: having been elected as a substitute ('suppléant'), he was not a Member. Death information from fr.wiki.