Diallo, Nafissatou (1941–1982)

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Diallo, Nafissatou (1941–1982)

Senegalese novelist, memoirist and pediatrician. Name variations: Nafissatou Niang Diallo. Born 1941 in Dakar, Senegal; died 1982; dau. of Samba Assane (borough surveyor for Dakar); studied in Toulouse for 2 years; m. Mambaye Diallo, 1961; children: 6.

Worked as pediatrician and midwife at Centre de Protection Maternelle et Infantile; wrote autobiography De Tilène au Plateau: une enfance dakaroise (1975, trans. as A Dakar Childhood, 1982), one of the 1st literary works published by a Senegalese woman; also wrote 3 works of fiction, Le Fort maudit (The Strongly Cursed, 1980), Awa, le petite marchande (Awa, The Little Shopkeeper, 1981) and La Princesse de Tiali (Princess Tiali, 1987).