Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated toQuebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was aParti Québécois member of theNational Assembly of Quebec for theriding ofBourget. From 2012 to 2014, he served as theMinister of Culture and Communications. A former member of theHouse of Commons of Canada for theBloc Québécois, Kotto is also a published author and has appeared in films.

Born inDouala,Cameroon, Léopold-Marcel Kotto-Maka^[2] graduated from high school at Lycée Henri-Martin inSaint-Quentin, France. He studied law, politics, dramatic art and cinema inNanterre,Bordeaux andParis. Kotto immigrated toQuebec in 2006.^[3]

Before becoming a politician, Kotto was an author, actor, and stage director. He appeared in the 1989 movieHow to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer), based on the novel byDany Laferrière. He also appeared in a second film in 2000,Lumumba, starring asJoseph Kasa-Vubu.

Kotto was also an educator in dramatic art for nearly 15 years in France and Quebec.

Kotto was elected to the House of Commons of Canada, representing the Bloc Québécois in the2004 Canadian federal election. In that election, he defeated incumbentLiberal MPYolande Thibeault and five other candidates. Upon winning theSaint-Lambert riding, Kotto became the firstblack Canadian Member of Parliament for the Bloc. He was re-elected two years later, winning a comfortable, but reduced, popular vote and a much larger plurality in the2006 Canadian federal election. He defeated five other candidates to win his second term in office.

Kotto served as the Bloc's critic forCanadian heritage.

On November 12, 2007, Kotto announced that he would be the candidate for the Parti Québécois in the provincial riding ofBourget inMontreal to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former PQ house leaderDiane Lemieux. It was his second attempt at provincial politics; he was defeated in his previous candidacy inViau by formerLiberal MNAWilliam Cusano.^[4]

Kotto resigned his seat inHouse of Commons of Canada on March 5, 2008, in order to run in the provincial by-election. His vacancy was officially recognized by the Speaker on March 13, 2008.^[5]

On May 12, 2008, he won theBourget by-election as a Parti Québécois candidate with 40% of the vote.^[6]

With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto becameMinister of Culture and Communications.^[7]

Kotto was re-elected in the2014 Quebec election with a smaller margin, but the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois was defeated and Kotto became a member of theOfficial Opposition caucus.^[8] He was defeated in the2018 election.

Kotto is the husband of formerLongueuil mayor and Bloc Québécois caucus colleagueCaroline St-Hilaire, and is the father of four children.

• How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) - 1989
• The Night of the Visitor (La nuit du visiteur) - 1990
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - 1995
• Beaumarchais - 1996
• The Caretaker's Lodge (La Conciergerie) - 1997
• Lumumba - 2000
• On Your Head (Le Ciel sur la tête) - 2001
• A Silent Love - 2004
• Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) - 2004
• On the Verge of a Fever (Le Goût des jeunes filles) - 2004
• How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit) - 2004
• Zim and Co. - 2005
• A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) - 2006

• Kotto, Maka.Femme : libre exaltation poétique. Outremont, Québec: Lanctôt, 2002. 93 p.; 21 cm. (Series: J'aime la poésie 12^e)ISBN 2-89485-213-4

• Maka Kotto atIMDb
• House of Commons of Canada: Maka Kotto
• Maka Kotto – Parliament of Canada biography
• "Biography".Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French).National Assembly of Quebec.

• 1961 births
• Black Canadian male actors
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