Ngalandou Diouf (var. Galandou Diouf) (14 September 1875 - 6 August 1941) born in
Saint-Louis Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, was the first African elected official from the advent of colonialism in the territory of
French West Africa
French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...
.
Early life
Diouf was born to the aristocratic
Diouf family. He was of
Wolof
Wolof or Wollof may refer to:
* Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...
and
Serer background, and as a native of one of the
Four Communes
The Four Communes (French: ''Quatre Communes'') of Senegal were the four oldest colonial towns in French West Africa. In 1848 the French Second Republic, Second Republic extended the rights of full French citizenship to the inhabitants of Saint-L ...
of Senegal considered part of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, was granted the (nominally) full rights of French citizenship. He began his career as a schoolteacher and minor government clerk but became progressively involved in politics.
Political career
Diouf was elected in 1909 to represent the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
of
Rufisque
Rufisque ( ar, روفيسك; Wolof: Tëngeéj) is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula. It has a population of 179,797 (2002 census). In the past it was an important port city in its own right, but ...
at the advisory General Assembly (''Conseil Général'') of Saint-Louis, then capital of colonial Senegal.
He was an editor of the influential "''La Démocratie''" newspaper, and founding editor of "''Le Sénégal''". As a journalist and political leader, he was the political godfather of
Blaise Diagne, whose fame and political success quickly supplanted Diouf's own. Diouf and Diagne finally broke in 1928 over Diouf's view that Diagne had conceded too much to French interests, and over Diouf's increasingly anti-Communist and anti- French Socialist Party views. With the death of Blaise Diagne, Ngalandou Diouf was in 1934 elected to the
French National Assembly
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
, the seat formerly held by Diagne, leading a coalition of the Centre Left, small farmers, Senegalese veterans of the French military, and followers of the
Tijaniyyah
The Tijāniyyah ( ar, الطريقة التجانية, Al-Ṭarīqah al-Tijāniyyah, The Tijānī Path) is a Sufi tariqa (order, path), originating in the Maghreb but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, ...
Sufi brotherhood which defeated the Socialist and
Mouride
The Mouride brotherhood ( wo, yoonu murit, ar, الطريقة المريدية ''aṭ-Ṭarīqat al-Murīdiyyah'' or simply , ''al-Murīdiyyah'') is a large ''tariqa'' ( Sufi order) most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia with headquarters in ...
brotherhood coalition of
Lamine Guèye, the attorney who would later carry out much of Diagne's political program.
In the French National Assembly
In the Assembly, Diouf joined with the Gauche indépendante (Left Independents), connected to the Parti radical-socialiste of
Camille Pelletan
Charles Camille Pelletan (28 June 1846 – 4 June 1915) was a French politician, historian and journalist, Minister of Marine in Emile Combes' ''Bloc des gauches'' (Left-Wing Blocks) cabinet from 1902 to 1905. He was part of the left-wing of th ...
. With the German invasion of France in 1940, Diouf did not
vote against the 10 July 1940 granting of power to the collaborationist regime of
Marshal Petain
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used f ...
, having already fled. Diouf had opposed the armistice with the Germans, even drafting an appeal on 19 June 1940 with the
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
an Deputies
Gratien Candace
Gratien Candace (December 18, 1873 in Baillif, Guadeloupe – April 11, 1953 in Lormaye, France) was a politician from Guadeloupe who served in the French Chamber of Deputies from 1912 to 1942 and served as vice-president of the French Chamber of D ...
and
Maurice Satineau Maurice Satineau (born 18 September 1891 in Baie Mahault, Guadeloupe; died 13 September 1960 in Paris) was a politician from Guadeloupe who served in the French Council of the Republic (Senate) from 1948-1958 and the French Chamber of Deputies fr ...
to President
Albert Lebrun
Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance (AR ...
that called on the government to continue the war in the
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. The ''Massilia Deputies'', a rump of 27 Assembly members, including Diouf,
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II.
Daladier was born in Carpentr ...
,
Georges Mandel
Georges Mandel (5 June 1885 – 7 July 1944) was a French journalist, politician, and French Resistance leader.
Early life
Born Louis George Rothschild in Chatou, Yvelines, he was the son of a tailor and his wife. His family was Jewish, originally ...
,
Jean Zay
Jean Élie Paul Zay (6 August 1904 – 20 June 1944) was a French politician. He served as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts from 1936 until 1939. He was imprisoned by the Vichy government from August 1940 until he was murdered in 19 ...
, and
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, boarded the ''
Massilia
Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western An ...
'', a ship chartered to transport Assembly members to
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
, where they planned to set up a government in exile.
List of the 26 Deputies, 1 Senator, and other personalities who fled aboard the ''Massila''. After disembarking at Port-Vendres
, the group, including Diouf, were arrested by collaborationist officials, but Diouf was not deported to face trial with the leadership.
Later life
Ngalandou Diouf died in 1941. A large secondary school in Dakar and major streets in both Dakar and
Saint-Louis are named for him.
References
* Portions of this article were translated from the French language Wikipedia articles
:fr:Ngalandou Diouf and
:fr:Galandou Diouf.
* Lucie Gallistel Colvin. Historical Dictionary of Senegal. Scarecrow Press/ Metuchen. NJ - London (1981)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diouf, Ngalandou
1875 births
1941 deaths
People from Saint-Louis, Senegal
Senegalese politicians
Serer politicians
Members of the 15th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic
Members of the 16th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic
Black French politicians