10 Most Famous People from Chad

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet His Excellency Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad, and Mrs. Hinda Deby Itno, during a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner. Photo by Amanda Lucidon. Wikimedia Commons.

10 Most Famous People from Chad

Chad officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N’Djamena. Here are 10 Most Famous People from Chad.

1. Kaltouma Nadjina

Kaltouma Nadjina is a Chadian sprinter. Her specialities are the 200 and 400 metres. Born in Bol by a modest family, her sportif career began when she participated in 1993 at Moundou to the National Sport Week.

Her victory in the 400 metres opened her the road to the selection for the 1994 World Junior Championships held in Lisbon. In February 1997, with the help of a grant obtained by the International Olympic Committee, she left Chad for the United States.

In 1999 she moved to Calgary, Canada, where she trained under former Canadian Olympic coach, John Cannon. At the 2002 IAAF World Cup she finished fifth in 400 m and fourth in 4 x 400 m relay. She holds the Chadian records in both 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m.

2. Idriss Déby

Mr. Idriss. Photo by Nicoleon. Wikimedia Commons.

General Idriss Déby Itno is a Chadian politician who has been the President of Chad since 1990. He is also head of the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group.

He took power at the head of a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and has since survived various rebellions against his own rule. He won elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006 and 2011. He added “Itno” to his surname in January 2006.

3. Mahamat Saleh Haroun

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is a film director from Chad who has lived in France since 1982. He made his first feature film, Bye Bye Africa, in 1999. His second feature, Abouna, won best cinematography award at FESPACO, while his third, Daratt, won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival.

The 2010 feature film A Screaming Man won the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, making Haroun the first Chadian director to enter, as well as win, an award in the main Cannes competition. In April 2011, it was announced that he would be a member of the jury for the main competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. His 2013 film Grigris was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

4. Youssouf Djaoro

Youssouf Djaoro is a Chadian film actor. He made his debut by appearing in the film Daresalam in 2000 in which he played the character of Tom. It was directed by the critically acclaimed Issa Serge Coelo and was the first of several films they have collaborated with.

Tartina City, also directed by Coelo in 2006 in which Djaoro played a journalist won the Innovation Award at the 31st Montreal World Film Festival.Later in 2006 he starred in the film Daratt playing the role of Nassara.

Directed by Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Darratt won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival, as well as eight other prizes at Venice and the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou. For his role in A Screaming Man, Djaoro won the Silver Hugo for best actor at the 46th Chicago International Film Festival.

5. Koulsy Lamko

Koulsy Lamko is a Chadian-born playwright, poet, novelist and university lecturer. Born in Dadouar, Lamko left his country for Burkina Faso in 1979 due to the beginning of the civil war. There, he became acquainted with Thomas Sankara and involved with the Institute of Black Peoples in Ouagadougou.

Lamko spent ten years promoting community theater in Burkina Faso through the Theater of the Community and helped found the International Festival of Theatre for Development. Some of his poetry was published in Revue Noire in 1994. In 1997 he co-released the album Bir Ki Mbo of mixed poetry and music in tribute to Sankara in collaboration with Stéphane Scott and Rémi Stengel.

6. Delphine Djiraibe

Delphine Djiraibe. Photo by Amnestystudents. Wikimedia Commons.

Delphine Djiraibe is a Chadian attorney and co-founder of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights. In 2006 she also founded the Public Interest Law Center (PILC). BBC News has described her as “one of Chad’s most prominent human rights lawyers”.

7. Karl Max Barthelemy

Karl Max Barthelemy also known as Karl Max Dany is a Chadian football striker who currently plays for Gabonese team CF Mounana on loan from Club Africain, from Tunisia. He is also a member of Chad national football team. He has 16 caps for national team and 2 goals and he was a part of qualifying campaign for 2010 World Cup, as well as 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

8. Moussa Faki

Moussa Faki. Photo by U.S. Department of State. Wikimedia Commons.

Moussa Faki Mahamat is a Chadian political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Chad from June 24, 2003 until February 4, 2005, and is a member of the Patriotic Salvation Movement.

He is part of the Zaghawa ethnic group, the same group as President Idriss Déby. He was President of the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council from 2007 to 2008, and since April 2008 he has been Minister of Foreign Affairs.

9. Jean Alingué Bawoyeu

Jean Alingué Bawoyeu, known in French as the vieux sage, which translates as “wise elder”, is a Chadian politician who was Prime Minister of Chad from 1991 to 1992. During the 1970s, he served successively as Ambassador to the United States and France. Later, he was President of the National Assembly of Chad in 1990.

He served in the government as Minister of Justice from 2008 to 2010 and as Minister of Posts and New Information Technologies from 2010 to 2013. A Christian, his base of support is in Tandjilé, in southern Chad, from which he originates.

10. Issa Serge Coelo

Chad Michael Murray at the 2007 Monte-Carlo Television Festival. Photo by Festival TV Monte-Carlo. Wikimedia Commons.

Issa Serge Coelo is a Chadian film director. Born in Biltine, Chad, he studied history in Paris and film at the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle. He then worked as a cameraman at Métropole Télévision, France 3, TV5MONDE and CFI before creating the 1994 short film Un taxi pour Aouzou.

The film was well-received, being nominated for a 1997 César Award in the category Best Short Film – Fiction. This was followed by the feature films Daresalam and Tartina City.