Senghor, Leopold Sedar 1906—

Leopold Sedar Senghor 1906—

Political leader, poet, essayist

Born into Minority Group

Was Outstanding Student

Began Writing Poetry

Formed Political Party

Became President of Senegal

Resigned as Head of Government

Selected writings

Sources

Achieving major success as a poet, politician, and intellectual, Léopold Senghor has had a truly unique identity among African leaders. His development from tribal member in Senegal, to scholar in France, to head of the government back in Senegal made him a symbol of Africa’s shift from colonial domination to self-determination.

Senghor was one of the architects of the philosophy of négritude, a movement established in France to raise black consciousness. He was the first black African to receive the equivalent of the American Ph. D. degree in France, as well as the first black African to be elected to the French Academy. As a poet, he generated a body of work that led to his nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Senghor’s poetry often reflected his problems of dual consciousness resulting from his upbringing in Senegal and education in France. In his review of Senghor’s The Collected Poetry in the Washington Post, K. Anthony Appiah wrote, “By themselves these poems would justify giving Senghor a place in the history of our times.”

Along with maintaining dual identities as an African and Frenchman, Senghor has remained active as both a poet and a politician during his long career. Janet G. Vaillant summed up Senghor’s life in Black, French, and African: A Life of Léopold Sédar Senghor: ”Just as he [Senghor] refused to choose between his talents as poet and politician, sensing that each added depth to the other, so, too, he refused to choose between his two homelands, France and Africa. He knew their strengths and weaknesses, their darkness and their light, and he loved them both.”

Born into Minority Group

Senghor was one of the youngest of some two dozen children of Basile Digoye Senghor, a well-to-do peanut merchant and exporter in Senegal. Senegal at the time was a French colony and part of French West Africa. Senghor’s membership in the Christian Serer ethnic group made him a minority in his mostly Muslim country. His minority status made it all the more impressive that he later became head of the country. As Ellen Conroy Kennedy noted in the Washington Post, “That Senghor, a Catholic in a country 85 percent Muslim, and from its smallest tribal group, succeeded in governing through

At a Glance…

Born October 9, 1906, in Joal, Senegal; son of Basite Digoye (peanut merchant and exporter) and Nyilane (Bakhoume) Senghor; marriages; Ginette Eboue {divorced}; Colette Hubert; children: Francis, Guy (witti Eboue); Philippe (with Hubert). Education; University of Paris (France), Diplome d’Etudes Supérieures, agrège.

Sent to a French missionary school in, 1913; entered a Catholic boarding school, 1914; won many academic prizes; entered a Roman Catholic seminary, 1923; was only African in the graduating class of the French lycée, Dakar, Senegal, 1928 enrolled in Lycée Luis-le-Grand, Paris, France, 1928; entered the Sorbonne campus of the University of Paris, 1931; began espousing theory of négritude; helped launch VEdudiant noir (The Black Student}, 1934; began writing poetry, mid-1930s; held senes of teaching posts near Paris; drafted into the French army; spent two years as a Nazi prisoner-of-war; published first collection of poetry, Chants d ’ombre {Shadow Songs), 1945; helped introduce Présence Africaine (African Presence), late 1940s; became part of the French Constituent Assemblies, 1945; elected to French National Assembly and General Council of Senegal, 1946; formed Bloc Démocratique Sénégalais in Sene-gai, 1948; helped draft a formal request to officially recognize the Mali Federation, 1959; became first president of independent Senegal, 1961; published Nocturnes, 1961; nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962; sponsored Third World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, 1966; stepped down from presidency of Senegal, 1981; became a member of the Académie Française^ Dictionary Committee, 1986.

Addresses: Home —1 square de Tocqueville, 75017, Paris, France,

the first 20 difficult years of independence was in itself a triumph. “Part of Senghor’s success story was a talent for compromise that was prevalent in his Serer tribal culture. “To survive in Senegal, Senghor had to go beyond his intellectual achievements in France and call on all the shrewdness of his Serer ancestors,” wrote G. Wesley Johnson in the American Historical Review.

Much of Senghor’s youth was spent roaming the countryside with local shepherds who taught him about Serer customs. His father did not care for this behavior, and expressed his disapproval by sending his son to a school run by French missionaries in 1913. This proved a pivotal development in Senghor’s life, as he proved himself to have superior academic skills. Also playing an important role in Senghor’s life as a child was his sister-in-law, Helene. She and Senghor had similar affections for French books and culture, as well as had similar religious views, and she helped promote his scholarly ambition.

While in the missionary school, Senghor was indoctrinated with the French colonial policy of “assimilation.” According to this policy, the smartest Senegalese were taught the French language and culture and were urged to support French political interests. Senghor won many academic prizes as a student. He decided to study for the priesthood and enrolled in the Roman Catholic seminary in Dakar. Senghor was then considered unfit for the priesthood after he verbally attacked the director for calling Africans “savages.”

Was Outstanding Student

After leaving the seminary, Senghor achieved academic distinction in the French lycée in Dakar by becoming the only African in its graduating class in 1928. This accomplishment made him famous in West Africa. His reputation was further enhanced when he won the book prize in every subject, in addition to receiving the outstanding student award. Senghor’s success earned him a scholarship to study in France, and in 1928 he enrolled in Lycée Luis-le-Grand in Paris. While at the Lycée he made key contacts with the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, the French Guyanan poet Léon Damas, and George Pompidou, who became the president of France in 1969. These friends helped introduce Senghor to theater music, museums, and other aspects of French culture.

Senghor entered the Sorbonne campus of the University of Paris after graduating from the Lycée in 1931. Around this time he began seriously evaluating his self-image and future in the world. He also became more sensitized to what he considered French “cultural arrogance.” It was a difficult time for Senghor, and he suffered bouts of depression and anxiety over his financial situation and identity. He began writing poetry as a means of grappling with his emotional distress during this troubled period.

After earning a Diplome d’Etudes Supérieures degree, Senghor began working toward his graduate degree at the University of Paris. Around this time, Senghor, Césaire and other blacks began espousing their theory of négritude, which at the time was interpreted to mean that blacks had intuition superior to that of whites, while whites were better at rational thought. In 1934 Senghor was among those who launched L’Edudia nt no ir (The Black Student), which communicated his ideas and those of his circle. He also helped form the Association of West African Students, whose aim was to promote African culture and embrace French culture without being absorbed into it.

Began Writing Poetry

As he began writing poetry in the mid 1930s, Senghor held a series of teaching posts at Lycées near Paris. After being drafted into the French army during World War II, he was captured by the Nazis and spent two years as a prisoner-of-war. While incarcerated he studied German and organized underground resistance movements in a number of prison camps. He was released in 1942 due to illness, then went back to teaching and continued his resistance activities.

Senghor’s poetry was first published in a collection called Cha ntsd ’om b re (Shadow Songs), which came out in 1945. French critics praised the collection. Containing poems about being torn between France and Africa, as well as ones that supported négritude, the collection made Senghor into somewhat of spokesman for people with mixed consciousness like him. His 1948 publication called Hosties noires (Black Sacrifices) contained poems that had been written by Senghor in a German prison camp and had been sneaked out of the camp to George Pompidou by a sympathetic guard. These poems dealt with public themes and historical issues, according to Vaillant. “This collection strikes a militant note,” she wrote. “The very title Hosties noires was carefully chosen for its double meaning. It can be translated into English in two ways, either as ’black victims’ or as ’black hosts’—host in the sense of the sacrificial host of Catholic Communion. The title suggests therefore that black people have been both victims and sacrifices for European causes.” Also in the late 1940s, Senghor helped introduce Présence Africaine {Africa n Prese nee), a journal that became an important voice of literary and sociopolitical thought for black intellectuals.

Formation of Senghor’s literary self coincided with development of his political side. In 1945 he became part of the French Constituent Assemblies, as a deputy of Senegal. The following year he was elected to the French National Assembly and General Council of Senegal. His language expertise earned him an invitation to review the accuracy and style of the French constitution drafted in 1946. A dozen years later, he was asked to help write a new French constitution.

Formed Political Party

Staking a political claim in his own country, Senghor formed the Bloc Démocratique Sénégalais in Senegal in 1948. His formation of the party resulted partly from a protest against what he considered France’s lack of consideration for the interests of Africa. “Senghor now realized that his vision of a free and self-directing African culture could not be realized without attention to political issues,” wrote Vaillant. Senghor’s friends in Senegal helped gather support for the new party, and Senghor himself spent much time traveling across the country to campaign for the party after its formation. Meanwhile, he continued to retreat regularly to write poetry. In 1949 he published a small compilation of lyric love poems, Chants pour naett (Songs for Naett), and another in 1956 called Ethiopiques, which dealt with his bonds to his native Senegal.

During the 1950s Senghor made numerous speeches demanding improvements in the life of the Senegalese, while at the same time demonstrating his loyalty to France. As his frustration with France’s lack of concern for their African territories grew, he worked to establish a federation of the country’s African colonies that would provide the territories more voice for positive change. Vaillant noted, “Without federation, he [Senghor] felt sure, the tiny states of West Africa would be doomed to poverty and perpetual dependence on others, probably France.”

As problems with France’s African colonies escalated with the revolt in Algeria in 1955, it was clearly that France needed a new relationship with its colonies there. Senghor was appointed by the French government to investigate the problems of overseas territories. He had talks with leaders in Tunisia and Morocco that helped settle unrest there. He also urged France to allow African states to form in loose confederations. By 1956 he was stumping Senegal and calling for autonomy, stopping just short of demanding independence. “I urge you to consider yourselves henceforth as in a state of legal resistance,” an increasingly militant Senghor told a meeting of members of a political party he helped to create in Senegal, the Union Progressiste Sénégalaise, according to Vaillant

Became President of Senegal

Senegal was thwarted in his hopes when the new French constitution in 1958 gave only limited autonomy to the territories. Although he agreed to support the document, it added to his dissatisfaction with France as overseer of his homeland and fueled his efforts to create a federation. In 1959 he helped formulate a formal request to officially recognize the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal with the Sudanese Republic (now Mali). Although permission to form the union was granted, disagreements led to Senegal’s withdrawal the next year. Senegal then drafted its own constitution, and Senghor was elected its first president in 1961.

As president, Senghor made economic development his top priority. However, problems arose due to disagreements between him and his prime minister, Mamadou Dia, a close friend. Senghor supported a tight relationship with France, while Dia wanted to sever these ties. Escalation of the two men’s differences led Dia to attempt a coup d’etat in 1962, which was crushed by Senghor. Dia was then convicted to a life sentence in prison. Senghor used this opportunity to make the prime minister part of his own position, and through his presidency continued fostering his relationship with France. He also strove to build cultural exchanges between African nations.

Despite his early promotion of democracy, Senghor became more authoritarian as head of the Senegalese government through the 1960s. In the middle of the decade he declared all parties other than his own illegal. He also helped sidestep potential criticisms by hiring his critics for prestigious government posts. This system of patronage proliferated the bureaucracy and led to a great waste of government funds in a country that could ill afford it.

Political office did not deter Senghor from his poetry writing, and in 1961 he published an acclaimed collection called Nocturnes. The following year he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in honor of his esteemed body of work. Senghor tried to stir up support for his policies by promoting his philosophy of négritude through his writings and by sponsoring events such as the Third World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar in 1966, but his attempts largely did not succeed. His focus on cultural matters also had an adverse effect on the economy, and by 1970 economic growth was slowing. During his term the country became too dependent on the export of peanuts, and a major drought that hurt the harvest became an economic nightmare for the country. “Convinced as he was that Senegal’s economic problems would yield to technology and modern planning, Senghor was slow to see poor performance as a reason to rethink his entire strategy, “wrote Vaillant.

Numerous coups were attempted and thwarted during Senghor’s term in power. As his support was eroded due to widespread hardship, Senghor responded by shifting away from his authoritarian stance. He re-established the position of prime minister, allowed the existence of competing political parties again, and voiced his support for freedom of the press. Senghor also released Dia and other political prisoners.

Resigned as Head of Government

In 1981 Senghor became the first African chief of government to peaceably step down from power and pass the torch to someone else. He felt at the time that he would not live to see the country he had dreamed of in Senegal. “In the morning when I awake,” he wrote, according to Vaillant, “I feel all the world that weighs on me . . . [but] when I open the window and see the sun rising over Gorée, over the island of slavery, I say to myself, all the same, since the end of the slave trade, we have made progress.”

In 1986 Senghor became a member of the Académie Francaise’s Dictionary Committee to make sure that new words and expressions from Francophone territories would be incorporated into the academy’s dictionary. After moving to France following his retirement from political office, Senghor focused more on writing, traveled widely, and became president of an international authors’ rights organization. Leaders throughout the world have often turned to him for advice due to his achievement in helping Senegal gain its independence.

Selected writings

Songs for Naeett, 1949.

Ethiopiques, 1956.

Nocturnes, 1961.

The Collected Poetry, 1992.

Sources

Books

Baudet, Henri, Paradise on Earth: Some Thoughts on European Images of Non-European Man, Yale University Press, 1965.

Buell, Raymond Leslie, The Nati ve Problem in Africa, Macmillan, 1928.

Hymans, Jacque Louis, Leopold Sedar Senghor: An Intellectual Biography, Edinburgh University Press, 1971.

Johnson, G. Wesley, The Emergence of Black Politics in Senegal, Stanford University Press, 1971.

Mortimer, Edward, France and the Africans, 1944–1960, Faver, 1969.

Vaillant, Janet G., Black, French, and African: A Life of Leopold Sedar Senghor, Harvard University Press, 1990.

Periodicals

Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1990, pp. C3, C5.

Macleans, May 29, 1989, p. 17.

New York Review of Books, December 20,1990, pp. 11–21.

New York Times Book Review, October 21,1990, p. 7.

Researches in African Literature, Fall 1990, pp. 51–57.

Washington Post Book World, November 11,1990, pp. 1, 14; July 5, 1992, p. 1.

—Ed Decker