Washington, DC — The former Senegalese President, Léopold Sédar Senghor, died, Thursday, at his home in the northern French town of Verson, after a battle against cancer. He was 95.
One of Africa's leading statesmen and a poet of international stature, Sédar Senghor's legacy was summed up by French President Jacques Chirac who said: "Poetry has lost a master, Senegal a statesman, Africa a visionary and France a Friend".
Senghor led his country for the first twenty years of independence from France. But in 1980, he voluntarily stepped down, handing over to his Prime Minister Abdou Diouf. The transition was hailed as heralding the advent of democracy in the region, at a time when much of the continent was ruled by dictators. In the 2000 election, Diouf lost to his rival and current President Abdoulaye Wade.
But Sédar Senghor also had his critics, who saw in his continued strong ties with France, the former colonial master, a sign of weakness. They even described him sometimes as a black Frenchman.
That, however, did not deter him from seeking ever greater military, political and economic cooperation with Paris, arguing Senegal could not afford to do otherwise.
Senghor was born in the small fishing town of Joal, south of Dakar, in what was then French West Africa. He attended the University of Paris, where he met and frequented writers from other parts of the French empire, including Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas, from the French West Indies, who had a strong impact on the concept of Négritude as Senghor formulated it.
He published his first collection of poems, 'Songs of the Shade', in 1945 followed by his 'New Anthology of Negro and Malagasy Poetry' in the French Language in 1948. His complete works were published in four volumes under the title 'Freedom'.
In 1945, Senghor officially entered the world of politics, first as Senegal's deputy at the Constituent Assembly and later at the French National Assembly.
With the approach of independence in the late 1950's, Senghor, worried West Africa would splinter into weak and rival states, began to seek a federal system for the region. But his efforts ultimately failed, forcing him to seek election as Senegal's first post-independence president.
