This article lists the colonial governors of Cameroon . It encompasses the period when the country was under colonial rule of the German Empire (as Kamerun), military occupation of the territory by the Allies of World War I (during the Kamerun campaign of the African theatre), as well as the period when it was a Class B League of Nations mandate and a United Nation trust territory, under the administration of France (as French Cameroon) and the United Kingdom (as British Cameroons) respectively.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
14 July 1884 to 19 July 1884 | ![]() | Gustav Nachtigal , Kommissar | Commissioner |
19 July 1884 to 1 April 1885 | Maximilian Buchner , acting Kommissar | acting Commissioner | |
1 April 1885 to 4 July 1885 | ![]() | Eduard von Knorr , acting Kommissar | acting Commissioner |
4 July 1885 to 14 February 1891 | ![]() | Julius von Soden , Governor | |
13 May 1887 to 4 October 1887 | ![]() | Jesko von Puttkamer , acting Governor | Acting for Soden, 1st time |
4 October 1887 to 17 January 1888 | ![]() | Eugen von Zimmerer , acting Governor | Acting for Soden, 1st time |
26 December 1889 to 17 April 1890 | Acting for Soden, 2nd time | ||
17 April 1890 to 3 August 1890 | Markus Graf von Pfeil , acting Governor | Acting for Soden | |
3 August 1890 to 14 August 1890 | Kurz, acting Governor | Acting for Soden | |
14 August 1890 to 2 December 1890 | ![]() | Jesko von Puttkamer , acting Governor | Acting for Soden, 2nd time |
2 December 1890 to 15 April 1891 | Heinrich Leist , acting Governor | Acting for Soden to 14 February 1891, 1st time | |
15 April 1891 to 13 August 1895 | ![]() | Eugen von Zimmerer , Governor | |
7 August 1891 to 5 January 1892 | ![]() | Bruno von Schuckmann , acting Governor | Acting for Zimmerer |
27 June 1893 to 24 February 1894 | Heinrich Leist , acting Governor | Acting for Zimmerer, 2nd time | |
31 December 1894 to 27 March 1895 | ![]() | Jesko von Puttkamer , acting Governor | Acting for Zimmerer, 3rd time |
27 March 1895 to 4 May 1895 | von Lucke, acting Governor | Acting for Zimmerer | |
13 August 1895 to 9 May 1907 | ![]() | Jesko von Puttkamer , Governor | |
27 October 1895 to 10 September 1897 | ![]() | Theodor Seitz , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer, 1st time |
12 January 1898 to 13 October 1898 | Acting for Puttkamer, 2nd time | ||
17 January 1900 to 31 July 1900 | ![]() | August Köhler , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer |
1 August 1900 to 6 September 1900 | Emil Diehl , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer | |
6 September 1900 to 15 November 1900 | Oltwig von Kamptz , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer | |
3 February 1902 to 3 October 1902 | Albert Plehn , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer | |
9 May 1904 to 8 November 1904 | ![]() | Karl Ebermaier , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer |
9 November 1904 to 31 January 1905 | ![]() | Otto Gleim , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer, 1st time |
January 1906 to November 1906 | Franz Ludwig Wilhelm Müller , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer | |
November 1906 to 9 May 1907 | ![]() | Otto Gleim , acting Governor | Acting for Puttkamer, 2nd time |
9 May 1907 to 27 August 1910 | ![]() | Theodor Seitz , Governor | |
10 February 1909 to October 1909 | Wilhelm Peter Hansen , acting Governor | Acting for Seitz, 1st time | |
28 August 1910 to 29 January 1912 | ![]() | Otto Gleim , Governor | |
August 1910 to September 1910 | Theodor Steinhausen , acting Governor | Acting for Gleim | |
September 1910 to 25 October 1910 | Wilhelm Peter Hansen , acting Governor | Acting for Gleim, 2nd time | |
October 1911 to 29 January 1912 | Acting for Gleim, 3rd time | ||
29 January 1912 to 4 March 1916 | ![]() | Karl Ebermaier , Governor | |
9 October 1913 to 1914 | August Full , acting Governor | Acting for Ebermaier | |
(26 September 1914) | Occupation by Great Britain and France begins | ||
4 March 1916 | Germany surrenders territory to occupying powers |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
26 August 1914 to 7 April 1916 | ![]() | Joseph Gaudérique Aymerich , Military Commander | Military Commander of French Cameroon | |
7 April 1916 to 8 October 1916 | Joseph Gaudérique Aymerich , Administrator | Administrator of French Cameroon | ||
8 October 1916 to 6 March 1919 | Lucien Louis Fourneau , Administrator | Administrator of French Cameroon | ||
6 March 1919 to 28 June 1919 | ![]() | Jules Carde , Commissioner | Commissioner of French Cameroon | |
28 June 1919 | Formal division into French and British Cameroons |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
French-occupied territory | |||
7 April 1916 to 8 October 1916 | ![]() | Joseph Gaudérique Aymerich , Administrator | |
8 October 1916 to 6 March 1919 | Lucien Louis Fourneau , Administrator | ||
6 March 1919 to 20 July 1922 | ![]() | Jules Carde , Commissioner | Acting to 7 December 1919 |
French Cameroons ( League of Nations mandate ) | |||
20 July 1922 to March 1923 | ![]() | Jules Carde , Commissioner | |
September 1920 to June 1921 | Paul Auguste François Bonnecarrère , acting Commissioner | Acting for Carde | |
March 1923 to 29 April 1923 | Albéric Auguste Fournier , acting Commissioner | ||
29 April 1923 to 31 August 1932 | Théodore Paul Marchand , Commissioner | 1st time | |
27 December 1924 to 11 May 1925 | Ernest Augustin Bleu , acting Commissioner | Acting for Marchand, 1st time | |
2 March 1926 to 31 October 1926 | Acting for Marchand, 2nd time | ||
26 April 1929 to 26 October 1929 | Acting for Marchand, 3rd time | ||
19 June 1931 to 6 February 1932 | Acting for Marchand, 4th time | ||
31 August 1932 to 7 July 1934 | Paul Auguste François Bonnecarrère , Commissioner | Acting to 22 September 1932 | |
7 July 1934 to 1936 | Jules Vincent Repiquet , Commissioner | ||
1936 to January 1937 | Gaston Camille Guibet , acting Commissioner | ||
January 1937 to 16 November 1938 | Pierre François Boisson , Commissioner | ||
7 October 1937 to 9 March 1938 | Pierre Émile Aubert , acting Commissioner | Acting for Boisson | |
16 November 1938 to 27 August 1940 | Richard Edmond Maurice Édouard Brunot , Commissioner | ||
27 August 1940 to 20 November 1940 | ![]() | Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque , Governor | |
20 November 1940 to 20 July 1943 | Pierre Charles Albert Cournarie , Governor | ||
20 July 1943 to 15 November 1944 | Hubert Eugène Paul Carras , Governor | ||
15 November 1944 to 16 January 1946 | Henri Pierre Nicolas , Governor | ||
16 January 1946 to 16 March 1946 | Adrien Émile Amédée Léger , acting Governor | ||
16 March 1946 to 13 December 1946 | Robert Delavignette , High Commissioner | ||
French Cameroons ( United Nations trust territory ) | |||
13 December 1946 to 25 March 1947 | Robert Delavignette , High Commissioner | ||
25 March 1947 to April 1947 | Robert Casimir , acting High Commissioner | 1st time | |
April 1947 to 7 July 1949 | René Hoffherr , High Commissioner | ||
7 July 1949 to 10 January 1950 | Robert Casimir , acting High Commissioner | 2nd time | |
10 January 1950 to 2 December 1954 | Jean Louis Marie André Soucadoux , High Commissioner | ||
2 December 1954 to 17 April 1956 | Roland Joanes Louis Pré , High Commissioner | ||
17 April 1956 to 29 January 1958 | | Pierre Messmer , High Commissioner | |
29 January 1958 to 19 February 1958 | Jean Paul Ramadier , High Commissioner | ||
19 February 1958 to 1 January 1960 | Xavier Antoine Torre , High Commissioner | ||
1 January 1960 | Independence as Republic of Cameroon |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
British-occupied territory | |||
1916 | Kenneth V. Elphinstone , Resident | ||
1916 to 1917 | E. C. Duff , Resident | ||
1917 to 1919 | P. V. Young , Resident | ||
1919 | W. G. Ambrose , Resident | ||
1919 | John C. Maxwell, Resident | ||
1919 to 20 July 1920 | ![]() | Sir John H. Davidson , Resident | |
British Cameroons ( League of Nations mandate ) | |||
20 July 1920 to 1921? | ![]() | Sir John H. Davidson , Resident | |
1921 to 1925 | Fitz Herbert Ruxton , Senior Resident | ||
1925 | William Edgar Hunt , acting District Officer | ||
1925 to 1928 | Edward John Arnett , Senior Resident | 1st time | |
1928 to 1929 | H. J. Aveling , acting Resident | ||
1929 to 1932 | Edward John Arnett , Resident | 2nd time | |
1932 to 1933 | Frederick Bernard Carr , District Officer | ||
1933 | George Hugo Findlay , Senior Resident | ||
1933 to 1935 | John Wynne Corrie Rutherfoord , Resident | ||
1935 to 1938 | O. W. Firth , Senior Resident | ||
1938 to 1939 | Ludlow Sealy-King , acting Resident | 1st time | |
1939 to 1942 | Arthur Evelyn Francis Murray , Senior Resident | ||
1942 to 1943 | Ludlow Sealy-King , Resident | 2nd time | |
1943 to 194? | James Macrae Simpson , Resident | ||
194? to 25 February 1945 | Percy Graham Harris , Resident | ||
20 March 1945 to 10 October 1945 | Alfred Leeming , Senior District Officer | ||
1945 | Reuben John Hook , acting Resident | ||
1945 to 1946 | Frank B. Bridges , Resident | ||
14 February 1946 to 13 December 1946 | Neil Mackenzie , Senior District Officer | ||
British Cameroons ( United Nations trust territory ) | |||
13 December 1946 to 4 August 1949 | Neil Mackenzie , Senior District Officer | ||
25 August 1949 to 31 December 1949 | Doyle Arthur Fitzroy Shute , Senior Resident | ||
1949 to 1 October 1954 | Edward John Gibbons , Special Resident | ||
1 October 1954 | Autonomous territory within Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria | ||
1 October 1954 to 1956 | Edward John Gibbons , Commissioner | ||
1956 to 1 October 1961 | ![]() | John Osbaldiston Field , Commissioner | |
1 June 1961 | Northern British Cameroons incorporated into Federation of Nigeria | ||
1 October 1961 | Southern British Cameroons incorporated into Republic of Cameroon |
For continuation after independence, see: List of presidents of Cameroon