Jean Sagbo
Encyclopedia
Jean Gregoire Sagbo is a Benin
-born Russian real estate agent and politician. His position is councilor of Novozavidovo. Sagbo is the first Russian of African descent, or Afro-Russian
, to have been elected in the Russian Federation. He has been referred to as "Russia's Obama
".
Sagbo immigrated to the USSR in 1982 to study economics in Moscow. He married a woman from Novozavidovo, a town of approximately 10,000 people located 100 km north of Moscow, and moved there in 1989. He has two children. During his first year in Novozavidovo, his then-4 year old son Maxim was spat upon. Sagbo confronted the spitter and eventually other onlookers supported Sagbo. Racial attacks have taken place numerous times in Russia, 49 times in Moscow in one year according to an advocacy group. Sagbo speaks in French-African accented Russian.
About 10 years prior to his first election, he organized a volunteer effort for an annual garbage collection day. He also planted flowers and cleaned streets in front of his home without pay.
As a councilor, Sagbo collected donations to turn dilapidated lots between buildings into parks. Sagbo was elected in 2010. He has expressed annoyance at being referred to as "Russia's Obama" because the two are both merely black. The position of councilor is unpaid.
Sagbo has been quoted as saying "Novozavidovo is dying...this is my home, my town. We can't live like this." Vyacheslav Arakelov, the mayor of Novozavidovo said "His skin is black but he is Russian inside...the way he cares about this place, only a Russian can care."
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
-born Russian real estate agent and politician. His position is councilor of Novozavidovo. Sagbo is the first Russian of African descent, or Afro-Russian
Afro-Russian
Afro-Russians are Russians of Black African descent, including Black people who have settled in Russia and their mixed-race children. The Metis Foundation estimates that there are about 40,000 mixed-race Russians.-First African arrivals:...
, to have been elected in the Russian Federation. He has been referred to as "Russia's Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
".
Sagbo immigrated to the USSR in 1982 to study economics in Moscow. He married a woman from Novozavidovo, a town of approximately 10,000 people located 100 km north of Moscow, and moved there in 1989. He has two children. During his first year in Novozavidovo, his then-4 year old son Maxim was spat upon. Sagbo confronted the spitter and eventually other onlookers supported Sagbo. Racial attacks have taken place numerous times in Russia, 49 times in Moscow in one year according to an advocacy group. Sagbo speaks in French-African accented Russian.
About 10 years prior to his first election, he organized a volunteer effort for an annual garbage collection day. He also planted flowers and cleaned streets in front of his home without pay.
As a councilor, Sagbo collected donations to turn dilapidated lots between buildings into parks. Sagbo was elected in 2010. He has expressed annoyance at being referred to as "Russia's Obama" because the two are both merely black. The position of councilor is unpaid.
Sagbo has been quoted as saying "Novozavidovo is dying...this is my home, my town. We can't live like this." Vyacheslav Arakelov, the mayor of Novozavidovo said "His skin is black but he is Russian inside...the way he cares about this place, only a Russian can care."
External links
- First Black Elected Official Defies Racism In Russia by NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
Article "Our Man from Benin" from Rossiyskaya GazetaRossiyskaya GazetaRossiyskaya Gazeta is a Russian government daily newspaper of record which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies...