Bá, Mariama (1929–1981)

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Bá, Mariama (1929–1981)

Senegalese novelist. Name variations: Ba or Baá. Born to Muslim parents in Dakar, Senegal, 1929; died after a long illness in Dakar in 1981; dau. of a civil servant; attended École Normal for girls in Rufisque; married a Senegalese politician (div.); children: 9.

Worked as secretary before becoming a grade-school teacher (1947); joined various Senegalese women's organizations and wrote essays on such topics as polygamy and clitoridectomy; published epistolary 1st novel Une Si longue lettre (So Long a Letter (1979), which won 1st Noma Award for Publishing in Africa; works include the posthumously published Le Chant écarlate (Scarlet Song).

See also Women in World History.