Lazare Eloundou Assomo

Lazare Eloundou Assomo is an architect and heritage advisor from Cameroon, who, in 2021, was the first African to be appointed head of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre.

Lazare Eloundou Assomo
Director of the World Heritage Centre
Assumed office
6 December 2021
Preceded byMechtild Rössler
Personal details
Born1968
Cameroon

Career

Assomo graduated from the Grenoble School of Architecture in 1996 and worked as a researcher there at the Centre for Earthen Construction.[1] Early project he worked on were praised by Nelson Mandela for their community-centred approaches.[2] He joined UNESCO in 2003 and worked on the implementation of the African World Heritage Fund,[1] and the World Heritage Earthen Architecture Program.[3]

From 2008 to 2013 he led the Africa Unit of World Heritage Centre, and from there joined UNESCO's Bamako office,[4] and in 2014 was appointed to lead its Mali office.[1] He worked on the reconstruction of mausoleums in Timbuktu that were destroyed by al-Qaeda.[5] 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.[1]

In December 2021 he was appointed Head of the World Heritage Centre by Audrey Azoulay, replacing Mechtild Rössler.[3] He is the centre's fifth director and the first African to hold the position.[6][5][7] He has been outspoken on the subject of the study of "colonial heritage" in Africa.[8]

References
  1. "Audrey Azoulay names Lazare Eloundou Assomo head of the World Heritage Centre". UNESCO. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  2. "Lazare Eloundou Assomo, the first African to head Unesco's world heritage". New in 24 English. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  3. "Le Camerounais L. E. Assomo, premier Africain en charge de l'Héritage culturel à l'UNESCO". Afriquois Info (in French). Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  4. Carstens, Anne Marie; Carstens, Researcher Georgetown University Law Center and Lecturer Anne-Marie; Varner, Elizabeth (2020). Intersections in International Cultural Heritage Law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-884629-1.
  5. "New head of Unesco world heritage centre wants to put Africa on the map". the Guardian. 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  6. "Lazare Eloundou Assomo appointed Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre". African Shapers. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  7. "Lazare Eloundou Assomo, un Africain à l'ONU pour sauvegarder les trésors de l'humanité". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  8. Halbertsma, Marlite (2011-05-25). The Heritage Theatre: Globalisation and Cultural Heritage. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-3078-2.
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