Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor | |
---|---|
1st President of Senegal | |
In office 6 September 1960 – 31 December 1980 | |
Prime Minister | Abdou Diouf |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Abdou Diouf |
Personal details | |
Born | Joal, French West Africa (present-day Senegal) | 9 October 1906
Died | 20 December 2001 Verson, France | (aged 95)
Political party | Socialist Party of Senegal |
Spouse(s) |
Ginette Éboué
(m. 1946; div. 1956)Colette Hubert Senghor (m. 1957–2001) |
Roman Catholicism | |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | France |
Branch/service | French Colonial Army |
Years of service | 1939–1942 |
Rank | Private 2e Classe |
Unit | 59th Colonial Infantry Division |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Léopold Sédar Senghor (
Ideologically an
Senghor became the first president of independent
Senghor was the founder of the
Early years: 1906–28
Léopold Sédar Senghor was born on 9 October 1906 in the city of
At the age of eight, Senghor began his studies in Senegal in the
"Sixteen years of wandering": 1928–1944
In 1928 Senghor sailed from Senegal for France, beginning, in his words, "sixteen years of wandering."
Academic career
Senghor graduated from the University of Paris, where he received the Agrégation in French Grammar. Subsequently, he was designated professor at the universities of Tours and Paris, where he taught during the period 1935–45.[14]
Senghor started his teaching years at the lycée René-Descartes in
Military service
In 1939, Senghor was enlisted in the 3rd Colonial Infantry Regiment of the French army with the rank of private (2e Classe) despite his higher education. A year later in June 1940, the invading Germans took him prisoner in la Charité-sur-Loire or Villabon. He was interned in a succession of camps, and finally at Front Stalag 230, in Poitiers. Front Stalag 230 was reserved for colonial troops captured during the war.[17] According to Senghor, German soldiers wanted to execute him and the others on the day they were captured, but they escaped this fate by yelling Vive la France, vive l'Afrique noire! ("Long live France, long live Black Africa!"). A French officer told the soldiers that executing the African prisoners would dishonour the Aryan race and the German Army. In total, Senghor spent two years in different prison camps, where he spent most of his time writing poems and learning enough German to read Goethe's poetry in the original.[18] In 1942 he was released for medical reasons.[19]
He resumed his teaching career while remaining involved in the
Political career: 1945–1982
Colonial France
Senghor advocated for African integration within the French Empire, arguing that independence for small, weak territories would lead to the perpetuation of oppression, whereas African empowerment within a federal French Empire could transform it for the better.[20]
Once the war was over, Senghor was selected as Dean of the Linguistics Department with the
During the negotiations to write the French Constitution of 1946, Senghor pushed for the extension of French citizenship to all French territories. Four Senegalese communes had citizenship since 1916 – Senghor argued that this should be extended to the rest of France's territory.[23] Senghor argued for a federal model whereby each African territory would govern its own internal affairs, and this federation would be part of a larger French confederation that ran foreign affairs, defence and development policies.[24][25] Senghor opposed indigenous nationalism, arguing that African territories would develop more successfully within a federal model where each territory had its "negro-African personality" along with French experience and resources.[26]
Political changes
In 1947, Senghor left the African Division of the
Re-elected deputy in 1951 as an independent overseas member, Senghor was appointed
In 1964 Senghor published the first volume of a series of five, titled Liberté. The book contains a variety of speeches, essays and prefaces.[30]
Senegal
Senghor supported federalism for newly independent African states, a type of "French Commonwealth",[31] while retaining a degree of French involvement:
In Africa, when children have grown up, they leave their parents' hut, and build a hut of their own by its side. Believe me, we don't want to leave the French compound. We have grown up in it, and it is good to be alive in it. We simply want to build our own huts.
— Speech by Senghor, 1957[32]
Since federalism was not favoured by the African countries, he decided to form, along with
Afterwards, Senghor became the first President of the Republic of Senegal, elected on 5 September 1960. He is the author of the Senegalese
On 22 March 1967, Senghor survived an assassination attempt.
Following an announcement at the beginning of December 1980,[40] Senghor resigned his position at the end of the year, before the end of his fifth term. Abdou Diouf replaced him as the head of the country. Under his presidency, Senegal adopted a multi-party system (limited to three: socialist, communist and liberal).[41] He created a performing education system. Despite the end of official colonialism, the value of Senegalese currency continued to be fixed by France, the language of learning remained French, and Senghor ruled the country with French political advisors.
Francophonie
He supported the creation of
Global policy
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a
Académie française: 1983–2001
Senghor was elected a member of the
Personal life and death
Senghor's first marriage was to
Senghor spent the last years of his life with his wife in
Legacy
Although a socialist, Senghor avoided the
Literarily, Senghor's influence on political thought and poetic form are wide-reaching even through to our modern day. Senghor's poetry endures as the "record of an individual sensibility at a particular moment in history," capturing the spirit of the Négritude movement at its peak, but also marks a definitive place in literary history.[52] Senghor's thoughts were exceedingly radical for this time, arguing that Africans could only progress if they developed a culture distinct and separate from the colonial powers that oppressed them, pushing against popular thought at the time. Senghor was deeply influenced by poets from the US such as Langston Hughes.[53] Seat number 16 of the Académie was vacant after the Senegalese poet's death. He was ultimately replaced by another former president, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Honours and awards
Senghor received several honours in the course of his life. He was made Grand-Croix of the
Senghor received the Commemorative Medal of the
On 13 November 1978, he was created a Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic of Spain. Members of the order at the rank of Knight and above enjoy personal nobility and have the privilege of adding a golden heraldic mantle to their coats of arms. Those at the rank of the Collar also receive the official style "His or Her Most Excellent Lord".[55][56]
That same year, Senghor received an honoris causa from the University of Salamanca.
In 1983 he was awarded the Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize by the University of Tübingen.[57]
The Senghor French Language International University, named after him was officially opened in Alexandria in 1990.
In 1994 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the African Studies Association; however, there was controversy about whether he met the standard of contributing "a lifetime record of outstanding scholarship in African studies and service to the Africanist community."[58] Michael Mbabuike, president of the New York African Studies Association (NYASA), said that the award also honours those who have worked "to make the world a better place for mankind."[59]
The airport of Dakar was renamed Aéroport International Léopold Sédar Senghor in 1996, on his 90th birthday.[60]
The
Acknowledgement
- Member of the Académie française
- Member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques
- Member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste
- Member of the Royal Academy of Morocco
- Honorary Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi[61]
Honorary degrees
- Mzuzu University
- Paris-Sorbonne University
- Harvard University
- Yale University
- University of Oxford
- Université catholique de Louvain
- Université de Montréal
- Université Laval
- Goethe University Frankfurt
- University of Vienna
- University of Salzburg
- Paris Descartes University
- University of Bordeaux
- University of Strasbourg
- Nancy 2 University
- University of Padua
- University of Salamanca
- University of Évora
- Federal University of Bahia
Summary of Orders received
Senegalese national honours
Ribbon bar | Honour |
---|---|
Grand Master & Collar of the National Order of the Lion | |
Grand Master & Collar of the National Order of Merit |
Foreign honours
Ribbon bar | Country | Honour |
---|---|---|
Finland | Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland | |
France | Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
| |
France | Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
| |
France | Commander of the Ordre des Palmes académiques (Officer: 13 October 1947[62]) | |
France | Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres | |
France | Volunteer combatant's cross
| |
Iran | Commemorative Medal of the 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire[54]
| |
Italy | Knight Grand Cross with Collar Order of Merit of the Italian Republic | |
Morocco | First Class of the Order of Intellectual Merit | |
Portugal | Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword | |
South Korea | Grand Cross of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa | |
Spain | Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic[56] | |
Tunisia | Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic | |
Tunisia | Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia | |
Vatican | Knight of the Order of Pope Pius IX | |
Yugoslavia | Great Star of the Order of the Yugoslav Star[63] |
Poetry
His poetry was widely acclaimed, and in 1978 he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca. His poem "A l'appel de la race de Saba", published in 1936, was inspired by the entry of Italian troops in Addis Ababa. In 1948, Senghor compiled and edited a volume of Francophone poetry called Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache for which Jean-Paul Sartre wrote an introduction, entitled "Orphée Noir" (Black Orpheus).
For his epitaph was a poem he had written, namely:
- Quand je serai mort, mes amis, couchez-moi sous Joal-l'Ombreuse.
- Sur la colline au bord du Mamanguedy, près l'oreille du sanctuaire des Serpents.
- Mais entre le Lion couchez-moi et l'aïeule Tening-Ndyae.
- Quand je serai mort mes amis, couchez-moi sous Joal-la-Portugaise.
- Des pierres du Fort vous ferez ma tombe, et les canons garderont le silence.
- Deux lauriers roses-blanc et rose-embaumeront la Signare.
- When I'm dead, my friends, place me below Shadowy Joal,
- On the hill, by the bank of the Mamanguedy, near the ear of Serpents' Sanctuary.
- But place me between the Lion and ancestral Tening-Ndyae.
- When I'm dead, my friends, place me beneath Portuguese Joal.
- Of stones from the Fort build my tomb, and cannons will keep quiet.
- Two oleanders – white and pink – will perfume the Signare.
Négritude
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2022) |
With Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas, Senghor created the concept of Négritude, an important intellectual movement that sought to assert and valorise what they believed to be distinctive African characteristics, values, and aesthetics. One of these African characteristics that Senghor theorised was asserted when he wrote "the Negro has reactions that are more lived, in the sense that they are more direct and concrete expressions of the sensation and of the stimulus, and so of the object itself with all its original qualities and power." This was a reaction against the too-strong dominance of French culture in the colonies, and against the perception that Africa did not have a culture developed enough to stand alongside that of Europe. In that respect négritude owes significantly to the pioneering work of Leo Frobenius.
Building upon historical research identifying ancient Egypt with black Africa, Senghor argued that sub-Saharan Africa and Europe are in fact part of the same cultural continuum, reaching from Egypt to classical Greece, through Rome to the European colonial powers of the modern age. Négritude was by no means—as it has in many quarters been perceived—an anti-white racism, but rather emphasised the importance of dialogue and exchange among different cultures (e.g., European, African, Arab, etc.).
A related concept later developed in
Décalage
In colloquial French, the term décalage is used to describe jetlag, lag or a general discrepancy between two things. However, Senghor uses the term to describe the unevenness in the African Diaspora. The complete phrase he uses is "Il s'agit, en réalité, d'un simple décalage—dans le temps et dans l'espace", meaning that between Black Africans and African Americans there exists an inconsistency, both temporally and spatially. The time element points to the advancing or delaying of a schedule or agenda, while the space aspect designates the displacing and shifting of an object. The term points to "a bias that refuses to pass over when one crosses the water". He asks, how can we expect any sort of solidarity or intimacy from two populations that diverged over 500 years ago?
Works of Senghor
- Prière aux masques (c. 1935 – published in collected works during the 1940s).
- Chants d'ombre (1945)
- Hosties noires (1948)
- Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache (1948)
- La Belle Histoire de Leuk-le-Lièvre (1953)
- Éthiopiques (1956)
- Nocturnes (1961). (English tr. by African Writers Series71)
- Nation et voie africaine du socialisme (1961)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin et la politique africaine (1962)
- Poèmes (1964).
- Lettres de d'hivernage (1973)
- Élégies majeures (1979)
- La Poésie de l'action: conversation avec Mohamed Aziza (1980)
- Ce que je crois (1988)
See also
References
- ^ JSTOR 532364.
- ^ a b Bibliographie, Dakar, Bureau de documentation de la Présidence de la République, 1982 (2e édition), 158 pp.
- ^ Robert O. Collins, African History: Western African History, p. 130.
- ^ Senegalaisement.com.
- ISBN 978-1-400-86713-4.
- ^ Université De La Vallée D'Aoste. LÉOPOLD SÉDAR SENGHOR (1906–2001).
- ^ Charles Becker & Waly Coly Faye, "La Nomination Sereer", Ethiopiques, n° 54, revue semestrielle de culture Négro-Africaine Nouvelle série volume 7, 2e semestre 1991.
- ^ Thiaw, Issa Laye, "La Religiousite des Sereer, Avant et Pendant Leur Islamisation", Ethiopiques, No. 54, Revue Semestrielle de Culture Négro-Africaine. Nouvelle Série, Vol. 7, 2e Semestre 1991.
- ^ R. P. Gravrand, Le Gabou Dans Les Traditions Orales Du Ngabou, Ethiopiques numéro 28 – numéro special, Revue Socialiste de culture Négro-Africaine. Octobre 1981.
- ^ Sarr, Alioune, Histoire du Sine-Saloum, Introduction, bibliographie et Notes par Charles Becker, BIFAN, Tome 46, Serie B, n° 3–4, 1986–1987.
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- ^ Michelle M. Wright. Becoming Black: Creating Identity in the African Diaspora, Duke University Press, 2004. 0822332884, 9780822332886.
- JSTOR 24517987.
- OCLC 58791298.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8160-7158-6.
- ISBN 978-0-674-36931-3.
- ^ Selected Poems of Leopold Sedar Senghor. CUP Archive.
- ^ Jacques Louis Hymans. Léopold Sédar Senghor: an intellectual biography, Edinburgh University Press, 1971. 0852241194, 9780852241196.
- ISBN 978-0-674-36931-3.
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- ^ Gwendolen Margaret Carter, Charles F. Gallagher. African One-Party States, Cornell University Press, 1964.
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- ^ ISBN 9780190277734. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
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- ^ Africa Bureau (London, England). Africa Digest, Volume 8. Africa Publications Trust, 1960.
- ISBN 978-90-411-1578-2.
- ISBN 978-0-674-36931-3.
- ^ "The Senghor myth". africasacountry.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-009-27122-6.
- ^ Sheldon Gellar. Senegal: an African nation between Islam and the West, Westview Press, 1995. 0813310202, 9780813310206
- ^ Mbow, Abdoulaye (30 April 2011). "Retour sur la tentative d'assassinat de Senghor et le meurtre de Demba Diop en 1967 : Quand la peine de mort était encore une réalité au Sénégal". L'OFFice (in French). Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ "President Leopold Senghor to Retire". Liberian Inaugural 3 December 1980: 8.
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- ^ "Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Preparing earth constitution | Global Strategies & Solutions | The Encyclopedia of World Problems". The Encyclopedia of World Problems | Union of International Associations (UIA). Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Ginette Charlotte Andrée Yvonne Eboué épouse Senghor - les Français Libres".
- ^ a b "Léopold Senghor". The Daily Telegraph. 21 December 2001. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ "Au Sénégal, dernier hommage à Colette Senghor, épouse et muse de l'ancien président". 28 November 2019.
- ^ "Africa mourns Senegal's Senghor". BBC News. 22 December 2001. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
- ^ "J'ai honte, par Erik Orsenna". www.sangonet.com. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- JSTOR 3820495. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- JSTOR 3820495. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Grand State Banquet". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ article 13, Reglamento de la Orden Isabella la Católica (1998)
- ^ a b Boletín Oficial del Estado.
- ISBN 978-3-16-150792-2.
- ^ "Distinguished Africanist Award 2009" African Studies Association.
- ^ Bensaid, Alexandra, and Andrew Whitehead (1995), "Literature: Award to Senghor Triggers Debate" IPS-Inter Press Service, 18 April 1995, accessed via the commercial service Lexis/Nexis, 30 December 2008.
- ^ "Découvrez des lieux uniques, vivez une expérience inoubliable". www.aeroportdakar.com. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-107-04000-7Quote: Poet, President of Senegal, and theorist of “Négritude” Leopold Sangor was elected the first Honorary Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi in 1974. This group was to complement the category of “Fellows of the Akademi” whose number was at no time to exceed twenty-one in total and who were to be living Indian writers of undisputed excellence — “the immortals of literature.”
- ^ Government of the French Republic (15 October 1947). "Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Sengor u Ohridu i Strugi". Slobodna Dalmacija (9462): 1. 1 September 1975.
Further reading
- Armand Guibert & Seghers Nimrod (2006), Léopold Sédar Senghor, Paris (1961 edition by Armand Guibert).
- Sources from this article were taken from the equivalent French article fr:Léopold Sédar Senghor.
- Scheck, Raffael (2014). "Léopold Sédar Senghor, prisonnier de guerre allemand: Une nouvelle approche fondée sur un texte inédit". French Politics, Culture & Society. 32 (2): 76–98. JSTOR 24517987.
External links
- Biography and guide to collected works: African Studies Centre, Leiden
- Histoire des Signares de Gorée du 17ie au 19ie siécle. Poèmes de Léopold Sédar Senghor
- Biographie par l'Assemblée nationale
- Biographie par l'Academie française
- President Dia by William Mbaye (2012, english version) – Youtube – Political documentary – 1957 to 1963 in Senegal (55')
- Sangonet
- Préface par Léopold Sédar Senghor à l'ouvrage collectif sur Le Nouvel Ordre Économique Mondiale édité par Hans Köchler (1980) (facsimilé)
- Semaine spéciale Senghor à l'occasion du centenaire de sa naissance
- Texte sur le site de Sudlangues Mamadou Cissé, "De l'assimilation à l'appropriation: essai de glottopolitique senghorienne»
- Page on the French National Assembly website
- « Racisme? Non, mais Alliance Spirituelle »