David Mandessi Diop (9 July 1927 – 29 August 1960) was a

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 ...

n poet known for his contribution to the

Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, mainly developed by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians in the Africa ...

literary movement. His work reflects his anti-colonial stance.

Biography

Diop was the son of Maria Mandessi Bell (1896–1990), a member of the

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian Bell family, of which Rudolf Duala Manga Bell and Ndumbe Lobe Bell, both kings of the Duala people, were also members. He started writing poems while he was still in school, and his poems started appearing in '' Présence Africaine'' since he was just 15. Diop lived his life transitioning constantly between France and South West Africa, from childhood onwards. While in Paris, Diop became a prominent figure in Négritude literature. His work is seen as a condemnation of colonialism, and detest towards colonial rule. Like many Négritude authors of the time, Diop hoped for a free and independent Africa. Within the movement he was recognized as "the voice of the people without voice". He died in the crash of Air France Flight 343 in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

off

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 Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, at the age of 33 on 29 August 1960. His one small collection of poetry, ''Coups de pilon'', came out from Présence Africaine in 1956; it was posthumously published in English as ''Hammer Blows'', translated and edited by Simon Mondo and Frank Jones ( African Writers Series, 1975). The Prix David Diop is awarded in his honour by the Association des écrivains du Sénégal. Winners have included Pulchérie Abeme Nkoghe, Papa Ibnou Sarr, and Aïcha Diarra.

External links

La vie d'un Sénégalais illustre David Diop (in French)

References

* 1927 births 1960 deaths Senegalese poets 20th-century poets Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1960 {{Senegal-bio-stub Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Senegal

Biography

See also

External links

References