Maximilien Quenum-Possy-Berry


Maximilien Quenum-Possy-Berry, Légion d'honneur was a politician who served as a Senator of the Fourth Republic, representing Dahomey in the French Senate from 1955 to 1958. He was also a teacher of philosophy and a writer on ethnology. The writer Olympe Bhely-Quenum is his nephew.

Writings

His book Légendes africaines: Côte d'Ivoire, Soudan, Dahomey was a collection of historical legends he recalled being told in his childhood by the elders of his village. The book, aimed at children, won an award from the Académie française. Most of his other books were academic ethnological studies; of particular note is his Au Pays du Fons: Us et Coutumes de Dahomey, which was also lauded by the Académie.