Cameroonian writer, diplomat and civil servant, Ferdinand Leopold Oyono, died on Thursday in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital, at the age of 81.

He was the author of two influential novels - The old man and the Medal and Une Vie de Boy written in the 1960s.

According to Geoges Etoa Oyono, who is the nephew of Oyono, the writer complained of weakness as he came out of the presidential palace where he attended the lunch offered in honour of the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon.

Oyono was an official at the UN in the 1970s and Cameroon's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He returned to Cameroon in 1985 and was appointed secretary-general of the presidency of the Republic.

He was minister of Foreign Relations and minster of Culture and worked for the setting up of copyright authority in the country.