NIGHT OF SINE

Night of Sine
Meet Léopold Sédar Senghor
(1906–2001)
Poet, politician, philosopher, and teacher, Léopold Sédar Senghor (seng_hôr) was
one of the most brilliant lights of Africa’s postcolonial period. In 1960, Senghor became
the first president of Senegal, a position he would retain for the next two decades. A
leader in the struggle for independence from France, Senghor was also a leader in the
effort to modernize and democratize the young country of Senegal, which remains one
of the most stable nations in Africa.
“I leave matter to the engineers. To the
Poet belongs the spirit.”
—Léopold Sédar Senghor
Africa and the West The son of a wealthy planter and trader, Senghor spent his early
years in a traditional Senegalese village in the Sine (sē _nā ) region. He was educated
in a Roman Catholic seminary with the aim of becoming a priest. By the time he turned
twenty, however, Senghor had found that his calling lay elsewhere.
After a brief time in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, Senghor traveled to Paris, France, in
1928. While there, he completed his studies and began writing poems while working as
a teacher. At the start of World War II, Senghor was drafted into the French army. In
1940, he was captured and held in Nazi concentration camps, where he continued to
write poetry. After his release two years later, Senghor became active in the
underground French Resistance fighting Nazi Germany’s occupation.
From Liberation to Retirement As the war came to a close, Senghor became involved in
politics, first as a member of the French Constituent Assembly and then as the mayor of
Thiès, one of Senegal’s largest cities. When Senegal was finally liberated from French
rule in 1960, Senghor became the country’s first president. Although a coup was
attempted only two years into his first term, he remained in power until 1980, when he
became the first African president to leave office voluntarily. Senghor’s presidency was
filled with many advances for Senegal, including the modernization of its agriculture and
vast economic and trade reforms. The poet-president also wrote the lyrics to the
country’s national anthem. After retiring, Senghor returned to France, where he
continued to write poetry and completed a memoir. In 1984, Senghor became the first
African to be inducted into the French Academy—France’s most prestigious, exclusive,
and oldest literary organization. As a poet, Senghor was influenced by black writers
from the United States and the Caribbean as well as French poets such as Charles
Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.