Charles Monteil
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Charles Monteil (22 February 1871 – 20 April 1949) was a French civil servant who combined a career in administration with studies in the ethnology, languages, and history of
French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
.


Career


Early years (1871–1893)

Charles Monteil was born in Paris on 22 February 1871. He was the brother of Parfait-Louis Monteil (1855–1925), a French colonial military officer and explorer. He was admitted to the military academy of Saint-Cyr in 1892.


French West Africa (1893–1902)

Monteil's brother Louis-Parfait took him to
French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
in 1893, where he began work as a native affairs clerk, and later rose through several administrative levels and held many positions. At one time he was the deputy of
Maurice Delafosse Maurice Delafosse (20 December 1870 – 13 November 1926) was a French ethnographer and colonial official who also worked in the field of the languages of Africa. In a review of his daughter's biography of him he was described as "one of the most ...
in the
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
. In 1898 Monteil was the first to have collected a soninké version of the legend of Wagadu on the founding of the Mandingo Empire, published in 1967 in an edition edited by Abdoulaye Bathily. He wrote the answer to the ''Questionnaire concerning the legal customs of the natives of Africa'' issued by the Berlin-based International Union of Law and Political Economy and transmitted by the French Colonial Union. He was promoted to head of the
Djenné Djenné (; also known as Djénné, Jenné, and Jenne) is a Songhai people, Songhai town and Communes of Mali, urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the ...
''cercle'' in May 1901. Between then and December 1902 he recorded 800 interviews with the educated people of the city, published in
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
in 1965.


Later career (1902–1949)

Monteil was head of the
French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...
economy and trade office at the Colonial Office in Paris for two years. He was a senior writer at the
Caisse des dépôts et consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...
in Paris from 1904 to 1911. He also lectured in Sudanese languages at the National School of Living Oriental Languages ( École nationale des langues orientales vivantes) from 1904 to 1909. He graduated with a degree in law in 1911. He was a receiver of finance until 1936. He worked with the Comité des études historiques et scientifiques de l’AOF and the Institut d’Afrique Noire in
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
, Senegal. Monteil died in Tulle on 20 April 1949. His son, Vincent M. Monteil, was also the author of many works about Africa.


Awards

Monteil received awards from the National Agricultural Society of France in 1903, the Geographical Society of Paris in 1916 and 1924 (gold medal), and the Institute of France (Academy of Moral and Political Sciences) in 1917 and 1925. He was made a Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
and Officer of the Academy. He was a holder of the Colonial Medal (Ivory Coast). He was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Colonial Sciences from its foundation in 1923.


Publications

Monteil published many books and articles on the languages, history, and ethnography of French West Africa. In an article on ''La Legende du Wagadu. D'après Tudo Yaresi'' (1953) Monteil discusses the origin of Dinga, founder of the
Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali. It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...
, who came from lands in the direction of
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, spent some time in Djenné, and had many descendants from three marriages. Monteil suggests that Dinga's family came from Jerusalem and he was descended from
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
by Yuba (
Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...
). He was born in Lulami or
Durame Durame is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Kembata Tembaro Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2101 meters above se ...
, spent his youth in Masya, went to Uruguntu where his mother died, and arrived in Louti where he acquired power over the rain, before coming to Djenné. In a posthumous article on ''Problems of Western Sudan'' Monteil presents the hypothesis that modern blacksmiths and singers in West Africa are descended from Judaised blacks, which he bases on the idea of a period of Jewish hegemony in the
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...
before the Arabs arrived. These Jews would have first reached Mali as gold traders. Later, the Judaised Berbers would have fled from the Arabs and then from the Muslim Berbers, moving first to the Adrar of Mauritania and then south of the
Senegal River The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the  Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from  Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a river in West Africa; much of its length mark ...
. The theory is based only on a text by the Arab geographer
Muhammad al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...
(1100–65), and on Sudanese local traditions about the origins of the blacksmiths. His works include: * * * * * * * * * Second edition published in 1971 by Anthropos and the Institut International Africain with a preface by his son Vincent Monteil. * * * *


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monteil, Charles 1871 births 1949 deaths French ethnographers Linguists from France