"He will be my heir, period": discover who Yannick Noah has chosen to succeed him

Europe 1 Studio 17:46, 07 June 2023

PODCAST

The Noah family has done much to transform Etoudi from a village in the bush to a neighborhood in Yaoundé, Cameroon's capital, since its installation in 1962. It is there that we find today the family vault of the Noahs: "According to tradition, the patriarchs are buried where they lived," explains Yannick Noah in "Yannick Noah, between you and me" at the microphone of the journalist Jacques Vendroux. The former tennis player adds: "This is where the ancestors rest. When I need advice from the elder, I come to Dad here and we talk. They are there."

Zacharie Noah, Yannick Noah's father, was the only one of his siblings to have returned to the land of his ancestors and had assumed the role of village chief. According to Yannick Noah, he had in mind to create in Etoudi a place where his own children, all expatriates, would always enjoy returning: "It is the anchoring of kids who travel, who are mixed, who have several religions, it does not matter ... A place where they can come and recharge their batteries." In the heart of Noah Village, the family mausoleum has thus become the refuge of the family, and its visit a kind of sacred ritual. Yannick Noah confides: "It's the first thing we do as soon as they arrive. We go to the car park, then directly to the cellar to spend a while. We light a candle and think of Daddy," he describes.

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In Cameroon, the connection to ancestors is very important. Yannick Noah insists: "The ancestors, in the civilization in France, they live through memory. In Cameroon it is even stronger. The advice that your ancestor gave you 30 years ago still exists today, you remember it, and you live according to it on a daily basis." This spirituality, the champion of Roland-Garros has transmitted it to his children. "They know that Noah Village is not just a club with a hotel. They know what it represents," he told Jacques Vendroux.

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Among them, it is the eldest son of Yannick Noah, the basketball player Joakim Noah, now 38 years old, who has been designated as heir to the role of patriarch. It is therefore he who will take over the management of the village following Yannick Noah. In the podcast "Yannick Noah, between you and me", the singer of "Saga Africa" declares: "Joakim is the heir, period. He's my eldest son, he's spiritually connected to here, he was very close to Dad, his grandpa Zach. Like all my children for that matter."

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To listen in full to Yannick Noah's intimate and rare account of the highlights of his life, find the podcast "Yannick Noah, entre vous et moi" on your favorite listening platform.