| Elisabeth Ekoué Pognon | |
| Term Start: | 1965 |
| Birth Name: | Elisabeth Kayissan Ekou |
| Alma Mater: | University of Poitiers University of Paris Panthéon-Assas University |
Elisabeth Kayissan Ekoué Pognon (born 1937) is Benin's first female judge, first woman member of its supreme court, and the first woman to be elected president of its stand-alone constitutional court.
She was born Elisabeth Kayissan Ekoué (Pognon is her married name) in 1937.[1] [2]
She was educated at secondary schools in Lomé, Togo, and Dakar, Senegal.[3]
She earned a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Poitiers in France, followed by a master's degree in law from the Panthéon-Assas University in Paris, in 1962.[1] [3]
In 1965, Pognon joined the magistrature in Benin, becoming the country's first woman judge.[1]
After serving in the ordinary courts, she became president of the court of first instance in Cotonou, and later in the court of appeals and other high courts before becoming a judge in the administrative chamber of Benin's supreme court, and the first woman member of that court.[1] [3]
In 1993, she became the first woman to be appointed as a judge to the new stand-alone constitutional court in Benin, and later that year was elected president of it by her fellow members, a position which she held until 1998, when she was succeeded by Conceptia Denis Ouinsou.[3] [1]
She has retired from judicial service.[3]