Marie-Angélique Savané (née Sagna; born 2 November 1947) is a

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 ...

ese sociologist and feminist activist, who has been "an extremely vocal proponent of legal and social reforms in Senegalese society on behalf of women", according to the '' Dictionary of African Biography''. She has been called one of the pioneers of feminism in Africa.

Early life

She was born on 2 November 1947 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, into a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family.

Career

From 1974 to 1978, Savané was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine '' Famille et Développement'' (Family and Development), "sub-Saharan Africa's self-help magazine". During her time in charge, she moved the magazine from a Western to an African viewpoint, "helping Africans help themselves". Savané has worked for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, and as a consultant to various UN organisations for many years. Savané is a co-founder of the Association of African Women for Research.

Personal life

She is married to

Landing Savané Landing Savané (born January 10, 1945

(born 1945) a left-wing Senegalese politician, and the Secretary-General of

And-Jëf/African Party for Democracy and Socialism The And-Jëf/African Party for Democracy and Socialism (''And-Jëf/Parti Africain pour la démocratie et le socialisme'') is a socialist political party in Senegal led by Landing Savané. And-Jëf/PADS was founded in 1991, through the merger of ...

. They are the parents of the retired professional basketball player

Sitapha Savané Sitapha Alfred Savané Sagna (born 20 August 1978) is a Senegalese retired professional basketball player. He was a member of the Senegal national basketball team. He played his entire professional career in Spain, most of it in the ACB League. ...

, who has also played for the

Senegal national basketball team The Senegal national basketball team (French language, French: ''Équipe de basketball du Senegal'') represents Senegal in men's international basketball and it is overseen by Federation Senegalaise de basketball, five time a gold medallist (in ...

References

1947 births Living people Senegalese feminists People from Dakar Senegalese sociologists Senegalese women sociologists {{Senegal-bio-stub