Amadou Lamine-Guèye (20 September 1891 – 10 June 1968) was a Senegalese politician who was the first President of the National Assembly of Senegal from 1960 until his death in 1968. The leader of the Senegalese Party of Socialist Action and a member of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

, he was also a member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from Senegal between 1946 and 1951, serving alongside associate

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...

. He was additionally a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1958 to 1959. He gave his name to the 1946 (''Loi Lamine Guèye'') which granted French citizenship to all inhabitants of France's overseas colonies.

Early life

Amadou Lamine-Guèye was born in Médine, in

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 ...

(now part of Mali) on 20 September 1891. He was educated in France, where he graduated as a lawyer in 1921. He was the grandson of Bacre Waly Gueye, a prominent merchant and political figure in 19th-century Saint-Louis, Senegal, who was the first African member of the General Council and a recipient of the Légion d'honneur. He was the first African with a doctorate in French law.

Political career

Upon his return to Africa, Guèye founded a political party and became mayor of

Saint-Louis, Senegal Saint-Louis () or Saint Louis (), is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and north of Senegal's capital city Dakar. It had a population of 254,171 in 2023. Saint-L ...

, in 1924. He became leader of the

in Senegal in 1937, and was elected as one of two Senegalese representatives to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

alongside Léopold Senghor in 1944. He was elected once again the following year, and also became mayor of Dakar. Guèye pursued what would become known as the (''Loi Lamine Guèye''), which sought to give equal rights to all natives of French overseas territories. This was enacted on 7 May 1946. Lamine-Guèye was an advocate for Senegalese assimilation with France. He was antifascist and pro-women's rights. Guèye lost his seat in the Assembly in 1951 elections after Senghor left to form his own party. Guèye reconciled with Senghor, and was once again elected in 1958. A year later, he was elected as the first

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the independent

of Senegal.

Death

He died 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 ...

on 10 June 1968. At the time, he was the President of the National Assembly.

Family and private life

He was the grandfather of Senegalese alpine skier

Lamine Guèye Lamine Gueye may refer to: * Amadou Lamine-Guèye (1891–1968), Senegalese politician * Lamine Guèye (skier) (born 1960), Senegalese skier * Lamine Gueye (footballer) (born 1998), Senegalese footballer * Stade Lamine Guèye, multi-use stadium ...

."Le billet de Paul Wermus : Lamine Gueye"
, ''France Soir'', April 23, 2008

References

External links