Lazare Eloundou Assomo

Lazare Eloundou Assomo (born 1968) is a Cameroonian architect and heritage advisor, who, in 2021, was the first African to be appointed head of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre.

Career Assomo graduated from the Grenoble School of Architecture in 1996 and worked as a researcher there at the Centre for Earthen Construction. Early project he worked on were praised by Nelson Mandela for their community-centred approaches. He joined UNESCO in 2003 and worked on the implementation of the African World Heritage Fund,

From 2008 to 2013, he led the Africa Unit of World Heritage Centre, and from there joined UNESCO's Bamako office, and in 2014 was appointed to lead its Mali office. In 2016 he returned to the World Heritage Centre as Deputy Director of the Heritage Division, before being appointed in 2018 Director of Culture and Emergencies. He has been outspoken on the subject of the study of "colonial heritage" in Africa.