Simone Kaya

Simone Kaya was born in Bouaké on February 11, 1937. Sent to France at age thirteen to pursue nursing and social work studies, she navigated the emotional and cultural displacement experienced by the first generation of African women sent abroad for schooling.

In 1976, she published Les Danseuses d'Impé-Eya: Jeunes filles à Abidjan, the very first book published by an Ivorian woman. The memoir vividly recorded female childhood memories, community bonds, and the transition of Abidjan into modernity. She directed social centers across West Africa throughout her compassionate life.