Adandé, Alexandre Sènou (1912/13-1993)
Alexandre Sènou Adandé, the author of an important bibliography on the history of African art, ethnographic studies and museums in Africa, was reportedly born in 1912 (or 1913) in Porto-Novo. Coming from a family of merchants, he successfully completed his studies and was admitted to the École normale William Ponty in 1932. After graduating, he was assigned to the General Inspectorate of Education of French West Africa and then to the Institut français d’Afrique noire (IFAN) when it was created in 1936. In 1957, he took over the Porto-Novo Ethnographic Museum, which has been named after him since 1993. From 1958 to 1965, he was successively Minister of Justice, Finance and Budget of Independent Dahomey, now Benin. He died in 1993.
Keywords: Museology/museography | Ethnography | French colonialism | Museum curator | Politician | 20th century | Benin | French West Africa | West Africa | Dahomey | African Studies | African civilizations | Art | Institut français d’Afrique noire | Porto-Novo Ethnographic Museum
