Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
company name	E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
company logo
company type	Public company
traded as	Dow Jones Industrial Average ComponentS&P; 500 Component
foundation	1802
founder	Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
location	Wilmington, Delaware, US
key people	Ellen J. Kullman(Chairman, President and CEO)
industry	Chemicals
products
revenue	US$ 32.733 billion (2010)}}

| operating_income = US$ 3.711 billion (2010) | net_income = US$ 3.042 billion (2010) | assets = US$ 40.410 billion (2010) | equity = US$ 9.743 billion (2010) | num_employees = 60,000 (2010) | homepage = DuPont.com }}

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (, , ), commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009. Its stock price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry and later, more environmentally friendly refrigerants. It developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.

DuPont's trademarked brands often become genericized. For instance, “neoprene” was originally intended to be a trademark, but quickly came into common usage.

History

Establishment, 1802

DuPont was founded in 1802 by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. The company was started at the Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, USA two years after he and his family left France to escape the French Revolution. It began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, as du Pont had noticed that the industry in North America was lagging behind Europe and saw a market for it. The company grew quickly, and by the mid 19th century had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military, supplying as much as half of the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. (The Eleutherian Mills site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and is now a museum covering this history that may be visited today.)

Expansion, 1902 to 1912

DuPont continued to expand, moving into the production of dynamite and smokeless powder. In 1902, DuPont's president, Eugene du Pont, died, and the surviving partners sold the company to three great-grandsons of the original founder. The company subsequently purchased several smaller chemical companies, and in 1912 these actions gave rise to government scrutiny under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The courts declared that the company's dominance of the explosives business constituted a monopoly and ordered divestment. The court ruling resulted in the creation of the Hercules Powder Company (now Hercules Inc.) and the Atlas Powder Company (purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and now part of AstraZeneca). At the time of divestment, DuPont retained the single base nitrocellulose powders, while Hercules held the double base powders combining nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. DuPont subsequently developed the Improved Military Rifle (IMR) line of smokeless powders.

DuPont also established two of the first industrial laboratories in the United States, where they began the work on cellulose chemistry, lacquers and other non-explosive products. DuPont Central Research was established at the DuPont Experimental Station, across the Brandywine Creek from the original powder mills.

Automotive investments, 1914

In 1914, Pierre S. du Pont invested in the fledgling automobile industry, buying stock of General Motors (GM). The following year he was invited to sit on GM's board of directors and would eventually be appointed the company's chairman. The DuPont company would assist the struggling automobile company further with a $25 million purchase of GM stock. In 1920, Pierre S. du Pont was elected president of General Motors. Under du Pont's guidance, GM became the number one automobile company in the world. However, in 1957, because of DuPont's influence within GM, further action under the Clayton Antitrust Act forced DuPont to divest itself of its shares of General Motors.

Major breakthroughs, 1920

In the 1920s DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, hiring Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. Carothers discovered neoprene, the first synthetic rubber, the first polyester superpolymer and in 1935, nylon. The discovery of Teflon followed a few years later. 1935 was also the year that DuPont first introduced the chemical phenothiazine as an insecticide.

Second World War, 1941 to 1945

Throughout this period, the company continued to be a major producer of war supplies. As the inventor and manufacturer of nylon, DuPont helped produce the raw materials for parachutes, powder bags, and tires. DuPont also played a major role in the Manhattan Project in 1943, designing, building and operating the Hanford plutonium producing plant and the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina.

Space Age developments, 1950 to 1970

After the war, DuPont continued its emphasis on new materials, developing Mylar, Dacron, Orlon and Lycra in the 1950s, and Tyvek, Nomex, Qiana, Corfam and Corian in the 1960s. DuPont materials were critical to the success of the Apollo Project of the United States space program.

DuPont has been the key company behind the development of modern body armor. In the Second World War DuPont's ballistic nylon was used by Britain's Royal Air Force to make Flak jackets. With the development of Kevlar in the 1960s, DuPont began tests to see if it could resist a lead bullet. This research would ultimately lead to the bullet resistant vests that are the mainstay of police and military units in the industrialized world.

Conoco holdings, 1981 to 1995

In 1981, DuPont acquired Conoco Inc., a major American oil and gas producing company that gave it a secure source of petroleum feedstocks needed for the manufacturing of many of its fibre and plastics products. The acquisition, which made DuPont one of the top ten U.S.-based petroleum and natural gas producers and refiners, came about after a bidding war with the giant distillery Seagram Company Ltd., which would become DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors. On April 6, 1995, after being approached by Seagram Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman, Jr., DuPont announced a deal whereby the company would buy back all the shares owned by Seagram.

Divestiture, 1999

In 1999, DuPont sold all of its shares of Conoco, which merged with Phillips Petroleum Company.

Current activities

{|class="wikitable" style="float: right;text-align: right; width: 125px" |+Pre-tax U.S. Profit by Year, in |2010||949 |- |2009||171 |- |2008||992 |- |2007||1,652 |- |2006||1,947 |- |2005||2,795 |- |2004||−714 |- |2003||−428 |- |2002||1,227 |- |2001||6,131 |} DuPont describes itself as a global science company that employs more than 60,000 people worldwide and has a diverse array of product offerings. In 2005, the Company ranked 66th in the Fortune 500 on the strength of nearly $28 billion in revenues and $1.8 billion in profits.

DuPont businesses are organized into the following five categories, known as marketing "platforms": Electronic and Communication Technologies, Performance Materials, Coatings and Color Technologies, Safety and Protection, and Agriculture and Nutrition.

In 2004 the company sold its textiles business, which included some of its best-known brands such as Lycra (Spandex), Dacron polyester, Orlon acrylic, Antron nylon and Thermolite, to Koch Industries. DuPont also manufactures Surlyn, which is used for the covers of golf balls, and, more recently, the body panels of the Club Car Precedent golf cart.

As of 2011, DuPont is the largest producer of titanium dioxide in the world, primarily provided as a white pigment used in the paper industry.

DuPont has its R&D; facilities located in China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Germany and Switzerland with an average investment of $1.3 billion annually in a diverse range of technologies for many markets including agriculture, genetic traits, biofuels, automotive, construction, electronics, chemicals and industrial materials. DuPont employs more than 5,000 scientists and engineers around the world.

On January 9, 2011, DuPont announced that it had reached a definitive agreement to buy Danish company Danisco for US$6.3 billion. On May 16, 2011, DuPont announced that its tender offer for Danisco had been successful and that it would proceed to redeem the remaining shares and delist the company.

Locations

The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Wilmington, Delaware. The company’s manufacturing, processing, marketing and research and development facilities, as well as regional purchasing offices and distribution centers are located throughout the world. Major manufacturing sites include the Spruance plant near Richmond, Virginia (currently the company's largest plant), the Mobile Manufacturing Center(MMC) in Axis, Alabama, the Bayport plant near Houston, Texas, the Mechelen site in Belgium, and the Changshu site in China. Other locations include the Yerkes Plant on the Niagara River at Tonawanda, New York, and the Sabine River Works Plant in Orange, Texas.

Corporate governance

Current board of directors

Ellen J. Kullman – President, Chair and CEO

Samuel Bodman

Richard H. Brown

Robert A. Brown

Bertrand P. Collomb

Curtis J. Crawford

Alexander M. Cutler

John T. Dillon

There du Pont

Marillyn Hewson

Lois D. Juliber

William K. Reilly

The board of directors elected Ellen J. Kullman president and a director of the company with effect from October 1, 2008, Chief Executive Officer with effect from January 1, 2009, and Chairman effective December 31, 2009.

Environmental record

Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts Amherst ranked DuPont as the largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States. The study found DuPont's most toxic pollution comprised chloroprene (855,370 lb/yr, 387,989 kg/yr), sulfuric acid (804,501 lb/yr, 364,916 kg/yr), and chlorine (65,088 lb/yr, 29,523 kg/yr) based on Toxics Release Inventory data. The most massive releases came in the form of more than 4 million pounds (1,800 t) of carbonyl sulfide followed by 2 million pounds (900 t) of hydrochloric acid.

In 2005, ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, in conjunction with the Climate Group, ranked DuPont as the best-practice leader in cutting their carbon gas emissions. They pointed out that DuPont reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 65% from the 1990 levels while using 7% less energy and producing 30% more product. May 24, 2007 marked the opening of the US$2.1 million DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve, a wildlife observatory and interpretive center on the Delaware Bay near Milford, Delaware, USA. DuPont contributed both financial and technological support to create the center, as part of its "Clear into the Future" initiative to enhance the beauty and integrity of the Delaware Estuary. The facility will be state-owned and operated by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). DuPont is a founding member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development with DuPont CEO (at the time) Chad Holliday being Chairman of the WBCSD from 2000 to 2001.

Positive recognition

DuPont has been awarded the National Medal of Technology four times: first in 1990, for its invention of "high-performance man-made polymers such as nylon, neoprene rubber, "Teflon" fluorocarbon resin, and a wide spectrum of new fibers, films, and engineering plastics"; the second in 2002 "for policy and technology leadership in the phaseout and replacement of chlorofluorocarbons". Additionally, DuPont scientist George Levitt was honored with the medal in 1993 for the development of sulfonylurea herbicides—environmentally friendly herbicides for every major food crop in the world. In 1996, DuPont scientist Stephanie Kwolek was recognized for the discovery and development of Kevlar.

On the company's 200th anniversary in 2002, it was presented with the Honor Award by the National Building Museum in recognition of DuPont's "products that directly influence the construction and design process in the building industry."

Controversies

''Behind the Nylon Curtain''

In 1974, Gerard Colby Zilg, wrote ''Du Pont: Behind the Nylon Curtain'', a critical account of the role of the DuPont family in American social, political and economic history. The book was nominated for a National Book Award in 1974.

A du Pont family member obtained an advance copy of the manuscript and was "predictably outraged". A DuPont official contacted The Fortune Book Club and stated that the book was "scurrilous" and "actionable" but produced no evidence to counter the charges. The Fortune Book Club (a subsidiary of the Book of the Month Club) reversed its decision to distribute Zilg's book. The editor-in-chief of the Book of the Month Club declared that the book was “malicious” and had an “objectionable tone”. Prentice-Hall removed several inaccurate passages from the page proofs of the book, and cut the first printing from 15,000 to 10,000 copies, stating that 5,000 copies no longer were needed for the book club distribution. The proposed advertising budget was reduced from $15,000 to $5,000.

Zilg sued Prentice-Hall (''Zilg v. Prentice-Hall''), accusing it of reneging on a contract to promote sales.

The Federal District Court ruled that Prentice Hall had "privished" the book (the company conducting an intentionally inadequate merchandising effort) and breached its obligation to Zilg to use its best efforts in promoting the book because the publisher had no valid business reason for reducing the first printing or the advertising budget. The court also ruled that the DuPont Company had a constitutionally protected interest in discussing its good faith opinion of the merits of Zilg's work with the book clubs and the publisher, and found that the company had not engaged in threats of economic coercion or baseless litigation.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the damages award in September 1983. The court stated that, while DuPont's actions “surely” resulted in the book club's decision not to distribute Zilg's work and also resulted in a change in Prentice-Hall's previously supportive attitude toward the book, DuPont's conduct was not actionable. The court further stated that the contract did not contain an explicit “best efforts” or “promote fully” promise, much less an agreement to make certain specific promotional efforts. Printing and advertising decisions were within Prentice-Hall's discretion.

Zilg lost a Supreme Court appeal in April 1984.

In 1984 Lyle Stuart re-released an extended version, ''Du Pont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain''.

Chlorofluorocarbons

Along with Thomas Midgley (working under Charles Kettering of General Motors), DuPont was the inventor of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), and the largest producer of these ozone-depleting chemicals (used primarily in aerosol sprays and refrigerants) in the world, with a 25% market share in the late 1980s.

In 1974, responding to public concern about the safety of CFCs, DuPont promised through newspaper advertisements and congressional testimony to stop production of CFCs should they be proven to be harmful to the ozone layer. On March 4, 1988, U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.), David Durenberger (R-Minn.), and Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.) officially wrote to DuPont, in their capacity as the leadership of the Congressional subcommittee on hazardous wastes and toxic substances, asking the company to keep its promise to completely stop CFC production (and to do so for most CFC types within one year) in light of the 1987 international Montreal Protocol for the global reduction of CFCs (signed for the United States by President Ronald Reagan). The Senators argued that “DuPont has a unique and special obligation” as the original developer of CFCs and the author of previous public assurances made by the company regarding the safety of CFCs. DuPont's response was that the senatorial demand was more drastic than the scientific evidence warranted, and that alternative chemicals were only in their infancy.

In a dramatic turnaround on March 24, 1988, DuPont announced that it would begin leaving the CFC business entirely after a March 15 NASA announcement that CFCs were not only creating a hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica but also thinning the layer elsewhere in the world. Patrick Hossay argues in his book ''Unsustainable'' that DuPont "had begun researching substitutes for CFCs in the 1970s when sales began to slump. Because the company moved on alternatives to CFCs before its competitors, any ban on their use would give the company a sharp advantage."

DuPont announced that it would stop selling CFCs with a full page advertisement in the April 27, 1992 ''New York Times'' stating “we will stop selling CFCs as soon as possible, but no later than year end 1995 in the US and other developed countries.”

Lewis du Pont Smith, in an April 27, 1994, open letter to shareholders on DuPont’s CFC Policy, warns that DuPont Corporation will be destroyed when a consumer backlash demands a Congressional investigation “regarding the science behind the ozone depletion fraud and the economic forces that pushed for the CFC ban”, which he called “the most massive consumer fraud of this century”, warning that “The cost to consumers of the ban on CFCs will exceed $5 trillion: the consequences on human health will be devastating.” Eight years before, Lewis du Pont Smith had been declared mentally incompetent to handle his affairs after he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Lyndon LaRouche.

In later years, DuPont would maintain that the company had taken the initiative in phasing out CFCs and in replacing CFCs with a new generation of refrigerant chemicals, such as HCFCs and HFCs. In 2003, DuPont was awarded the National Medal of Technology, recognizing the company as the leader in developing CFC replacements.

PFOA (C8)

DuPont has faced fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ and litigation over releases of the Teflon processing aid perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8) from their works in Washington, West Virginia. PFOA contaminated drinking water led to increased levels in the bodies of residents in the surrounding area. The court-appointed C8 Science Panel is investigating "whether or not there is a probable link between C8 exposure and disease in the community." The C8 Science Panel started releasing data in October 2008 and linked high cholesterol, but not diabetes, to exposure. DuPont has also faced U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings from the shareholder group DuPont Shareholders for Fair Value over the company's transparency regarding the chemical.

DuPont has agreed to sharply reduce its output of PFOA, and was one of eight companies to sign on with the USEPA's 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. The agreement calls for the reduction of "facility emissions and product content of PFOA and related chemicals on a global basis by 95 percent no later than 2010 and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content of these chemicals by 2015." However, questions remain if the biological effects to people from this chemical translate into health effects.

NASCAR sponsorship

DuPont is widely known for its sponsorship of NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports No.24 Chevrolet Impala. DuPont has been sponsoring Jeff Gordon since he began in Sprint Cup (then Winston Cup) in 1992. DuPont has said this about their sponsorship:

Our sponsorship of Jeff Gordon helps keep DuPont brands and products in the public eye. Branding is a key component of the DuPont knowledge intensity strategy for achieving sustainable growth.

In 2009, DuPont, Jeff Gordon, and Hendrick Motorsports celebrated their 17th season together. It is currently the longest driver/sponsor/owner combination in NASCAR.

See also

Du Pont family

Hagley Museum and Library

Irving S. Shapiro

Longwood Gardens

References

Further reading

Arora, Ashish Ralph Landau and Nathan Rosenberg, (eds). (2000). ''Chemicals and Long-Term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry''.

Chandler, Alfred D. (1971). '' Pierre S. Du Pont and the making of the modern corporation''.

Chandler, Alfred D. (1969). ''Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise''.

du Pont, B.G. (1920). ''E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company: A History 1802–1902''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. – (Kessinger Publishing Rare Reprint. ISBN 1-4179-1685-0).

Grams, Martin. ''The History of the Cavalcade of America: Sponsored by DuPont''. (Morris Publishing, 1999). ISBN 0-7392-0138-7

Haynes, Williams (1983). ''American chemical industry''.

Hounshell, David A. and Smith, John Kenly, JR (1988). ''Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R and D, 1902–1980''. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-32767-9.

Kinnane, Adrian (2002). ''DuPont: From the Banks of the Brandywine to Miracles of Science''. Willimington: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. ISBN 0-8018-7059-3.

Ndiaye, Pap A. (trans. 2007). ''Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America''

Zilg, Gerard Colby "DuPont: Behind the Nylon Curtain" (Prentice-Hall: 1974) 623 pages.

External links

Corporate History as presented by the company

DuPont Website

Yahoo company profile: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

DuPont/MIT Alliance

''The Stocking Story: You Be The Historian'', Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

The DuPont Company on the Brandywine A digital exhibit produced by the Hagley Library that covers the company's founding and early history

Category:Price fixing convictions Category:Chemical companies of the United States Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Category:Dow Jones Industrial Average Category:Companies established in 1802 Category:Engineering companies of the United States Category:Nanotechnology companies Category:National Medal of Technology recipients Category:Chemical companies Category:Wilmington, Delaware Category:Companies based in New Castle County, Delaware

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M'bilia Bel (born 1959) is a Congolese soukous singer, known as the Queen of Congolese rumba. She rose to fame after being discovered by Tabu Ley Rochereau.

Biography

Born in 1959 and brought up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, M'bilia Bel became successful in the early 1980s when she recorded and toured with Tabu Ley Rochereau, and made her own solo albums. The birth of her first child prompted her to take a break from performing, however, and after a last album with Tabu Ley in 1987, she moved to Paris. There she started working with guitarist Rigo Star, and between 1989 and 1990 she went on tour to the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Africa. With a combination of beauty, an angelic soprano voice, and tremendous agility on stage, M'bilia Bel stole the hearts of music fans all over the continent. She was Africa's first female transcontinental diva. She became the first female musician from Africa who could claim popularity all over the entire continent and beyond. In fact, one could argue that there has not been any female musician from Africa who has captured the imagination of music fans across the continent as much as M'bilia Bel did in the eighties. South African Miriam Makeba, known as Mama Afrika, popularity peaked in the 1960s but could not attract as many fans as M'bilia Bel did later.

She began her performing career at the age of seventeen singing backup for Abeti Masikini and later with Sam Mangwana. She burst into the music scene when she joined Tabu Ley's Afrisa International in 1981. The duo of Tabu ley and M'bilia Bel was an instant hit. The combination of Tabu Ley's composing genius and Mbilia Bel's heavenly voice resulted in high sales of Afrisa records.

Her first song with Afrisa, released in early 1982, was "Mpeve Ya Longo", which means Holy Spirit in Kikongo. It was a moving song about spousal abuse. In the song, M'bilia sang the part of a woman who had been abandoned by her husband and has to raise the children by herself. The song was very popular, especially among women in Zaire.

Her ever first album, released in 1983, was the extremely popular ''Eswi yo wapi'', which roughly translates to "Where did it hurt you?", composed by both Tabu Ley and M'bilia Bel. The song won the award for the best song of 1983 in Zaire, and M'bilia Bel won the award for best new performer. She went on to feature on several other songs that year, including Tabu Ley's "Lisanga ya Bambanda", "Faux pas" and Dino Vangu's "Quelle Mechante". Thanks to M'bilia Bel, the popularity of Afrisa International was soaring. Even songs that did not feature M'bilia Bel were receiving more exposure. The stranglehold that Franco's TP OK Jazz had held in the music scene was now being loosened, as Afrisa could now match TP OK Jazz in popularity and record sales, thanks to the arrival of this new sensation who was now being referred to as the African tigress.

Concerts of Afrisa were now a huge draw. M'bilia Bel was always the main attraction, and when she made an appearance, the crowds often went into a frenzy. She was a talented stage performer and often tantalized crowds with her exceptional dancing ability when she would join the Rocherreautes (dancers) in their dance routine.

By the mid-eighties, Mbilia bel had officially married Tabu Ley and was a refined and mature performer. Her songs continued to dominate the scene. Among them was "Mobali na ngai wana", which roughly translates to "This Husband of Mine". The song was composed by Tabu Ley and Roger Izeidi and is an adaptation of a traditional song in Kikongo. In the song, M'bilia Bel praises her husband as being handsome and successful and stresses the fact that even though he has the opportunity to choose from any of Kinshasa's beautiful women, he chose her. Other songs that blazed the charts during that period include "Balle a terre" and "Bameli soy".

In 1987 Tabu Ley recruited another female artiste to accompany M'bilia Bel. Kishila Ngoyi was here real name, but she was known by her artistic name, Faya Tess. It was with this new lineup that Afrisa embarked on a tour of East Africa that took in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, culminating in the album Nadina, which had Lingala and Swahili versions of the title song. The tour was well received by crowds. M'bilia Bel took centre stage, overshadowing other Afrisa artistes including Ndombe Opetum who had returned from TP OK Jazz. Upon their return to Kinshasa, rumours started surfacing about a rift between Tabu ley and M'bilia Bel. Apparently Mbilia Bel was not too happy about the emergence of Faya Tess, who seemed ready to steal her thunder. Both publicly denied having any problems.

M'bilia Bel quit the band late in 1987 to embark on a solo career. She briefly joined with a Gabonese producer in Libreville before leaving for Paris where she joined with guitarist Rigo Starr Bamundele. Her first album with Rigo Starr was entitled "Phénomène" and was a huge success in Kinshasa as well as abroad. Subsequent releases such as Yalowa, Desolé and Exploration have met with limited success.

Following the departure of M'bilia Bel, the popularity of Afrisa International as a band plummeted substantially. Tabu Ley himself seemed to lose inspiration for composing as is evidenced by the substantial reduction in the number of albums released. With the exception of her debut album, Phénomène, Mbilia Bel's career also took on a downward spiral when she left Afrisa.

Her more recent work has involved taking her usual style (traditional rumba and soukous) and mixing in rap and other modern elements.

References

Discography

1983: ''Eswi Yo Wapi''

1983: ''Faux Pas''

1984: ''Loyenghe''

1984: ''Boya Ye''

1985: ''Keyna

1985: ''Ba Gerants Ya Mabala Paka Wewe''

1986: ''Beyanga''

1987: ''Contre Ma Volonte''

1988: ''Phénoméne''

1991: ''Bameli Soy''

1991: ''Désolé

1993: ''Ironie'' (with Rigo Star)''

1997: ''Yalowa''

1997: ''Exploration''

1999: ''8/10/Benedicta/8/10''

2001: ''Welcome''

2003: ''Boya Ye''

2004: ''Belissimo''

2007: "Phénomène"

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo singers Category:Soukous musicians

fr:Mbilia Bel ln:Marie-Claire Mboyo Moseka

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (born Nicolas Dupont, March 7, 1961 in Paris) is a French gaullist and souverainist politician. A member of the National Assembly from the Essonne ''département'', he was a member of the center right-wing UMP party until January 2007, and now heads his own party, Arise the Republic (DLR). He is co-president of the European political party EUDemocrats - Alliance for a Europe of Democracies. He is the mayor of Yerres, Essonne.

He intended to run in the 2007 French presidential election, but withdrew his candidacy on 16 March 2007 after failing to gather the necessary 500 signatures of elected officials.

External links

Official site of ''Debout la République''

EUDemocrats official website

Official page on the French National Assembly web site

2007 campaign blog

2007 official campaign site

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from Paris Category:French Roman Catholics Category:Rally for the Republic politicians Category:Union for a Popular Movement politicians Category:Arise the Republic politicians Category:Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Category:Alumni of the École Nationale d'Administration Category:Mayors of places in France

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