Gaston Ouassénan Koné

Gaston Ouassénan Koné (29 April 1939 – 8 August 2023) was an Ivorian general, novelist, and politician of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI).

Biography Born in Katiola on 29 April 1939, Koné was the youngest son in a family of nine children. In 1946, he entered a private Catholic school in the Diocese of Katiola and attended secondary school at the Lycée classique et moderne de Bouaké. After graduation, he joined the French Armed Forces as a member of the . In 1959, he enrolled at the in Algeria and subsequently furthered his education at the and the École des officiers de la gendarmerie nationale. He returned to the country on the eve of the independence of Ivory Coast. During independence, he lowered the French flag flying in front of the National Assembly and hoisted, for the first time, the flag of independent Ivory Coast.

In 1962, Koné created a presidential guard on the command of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, for whom he piloted helicopter flights. He quickly rose through the ranks, being appointed Senior Commander of the in 1964. In 1970, at the breakout of the Guébié crisis, Koné commanded a battalion of Ivorian soldiers.

Gaston Ouassénan Koné died in Abidjan on 8 August 2023, at the age of 84.

Publications L’homme qui vécut trois vies (1976) Aller retour (1977) L’empire du gouffre (1990) Pauvre petite orpheline (2010)