Senghor, Léopold Sédar, 1906-2001 Senegal. President (1960-1980 : Senghor) text government publication sg 1960 monographic Dakar Ministère de l'Information de la Presse et de la Radiodiffusion de la République du Sénégal 1960] fre

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6 p. This speech to the people of Senegal by Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001) was delivered the day after his election as the first president of the newly independent republic. Senghor was born in what was then French West Africa. He was sent at a young age to a Catholic mission school, where he embraced French and European culture, but also felt the loss of his mother tongue and the pain of being torn from his African roots. He won a scholarship to pursue literary studies in France, beginning in 1928. In the 1930s and 1940s, he worked in France as a professor of Latin and French literature. With other intellectuals, he developed the concept of négritude, which emphasized black cultural identity and pride. After World War II, he represented Senegal in the French National Assembly and worked unsuccessfully to establish Eurafrican and African federations. In the speech, Senghor evoked a national idea transcending ethnic and racial divisions. He argued for African unity and referred to Senegal as having been shaped by both Europe and Africa. Invoking his old concept of négritude, he called for combining the best of European humanist and socialist traditions with traditional African virtues such as communalism. Renowned for his poetry, Senghor was elected to the Académie Française in 1984. World Digital Library. At head of title: République du Sénégal. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. f-sg--- Senegal Politics and government 1960-2000 African Section Pamphlet Coll https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/amedscd.2008700242 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.wdl/wdl.2538 2008700242 hdl:loc.wdl/wdl.2538 aacr DLC 081124 20250607025940.5 15533692 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.8 using MARC21slim2MODS3-8_XSLT1-0.xsl (Revision 1.172 20230208)