Léopold Senghor 2001 Deaths

Léopold Senghor

African public official and poet who served as the Republic of Senegal's first president (1960–1980). He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he developed the literary movement of négritude, which emphasized African culture, heritage, and spirituality and condemned the “soullessness” of Western culture. His books that have been translated into English include On African Socialism (1964) and Selected Poems (1964).