Senghor, Léopold Sédar

(1906-2002)

   Senegalese statesman and poet

   Born in Joal, Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor studied in Dakar and in Paris, where he met the poet aimé césaire, who at that time was formulating his concept of negritude, or black indentity. Senghor received his degree in 1935 and in 1945 was elected to the Constituent Assembly. He took part in the writing of the constitution of the fourth republic and served as secretary of state in the edgar faure cabinet (1955-56). A founder of the union progressiste sénégalese, he became, after the breakup of the Federation of Mali, president of the Republic of Senegal (1960). He strongly supported intercultural dialogue and retired from politics in 1980. Senghor's poetry expresses his love for his native country and the traditions of its people and, while celebrating negritude, the hope, too, for a universal reconciliation of the races. in 1966, he organized in Dakar the first World Festival of Black Arts. Senghor's works include poems as well as several literary and political essays. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1969 and to the Académie Française in 1983.