Amadou Hampâté Bâ ( ff, 𞤀𞤸𞤥𞤢𞤣𞤵 𞤖𞤢𞤥𞤨𞤢𞥄𞤼𞤫 𞤄𞤢𞥄, Ahmadu Hampaate Baa, 1900/1901 – 15 May 1991) was a

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

an writer, historian and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropolog ...

. He was an influential figure in twentieth-century African literature and cultural heritage. He was a champion of Africa's

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and Culture, cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Traditio ...

and

traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Or ...

and is remembered for the saying: "whenever an old man dies, it is as though a library were burning down."

Biography

Amadou Hampâté Bâ was born to an aristocratic Fula family in

Bandiagara Bandiagara () is a small town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of Mali. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the communal bowl meals are served in. Mainly on its Bandiagara Escarpment it has about 2,000 speakers ...

, the largest city in Dogon territory and the capital of the precolonial Masina Empire. At the time of his birth, the area was known as

French Sudan French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Fra ...

as part of colonial

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 B ...

, which was formally established a few years before his birth. After his father's death, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, Tidjani Amadou Ali Thiam of the Toucouleur ethnic group. He first attended the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

ic school run by

Tierno Bokar Tierno Bokar ( ff, Cerno Bokar), full name Tierno Bokar Saalif Tall (1875 – 1939), was a Malian mystic, Sufi sage, and a Muslim spiritual teacher of the early twentieth century famous for his message of religious tolerance and universal lo ...

, a dignitary 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 Ga ...

brotherhood, then transferred to a French school at Bandiagara, then to one at

Djenné Djenné ( Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a Songhai people town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, ...

. In 1915, he ran away from school and rejoined his mother at Kati, where he resumed his studies. In 1921, he turned down entry into the ''école normale'' in

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trad ...

. As a punishment, the governor appointed him to

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

with the role he later described as that of "an essentially precarious and revocable temporary writer". From 1922 to 1932, he held several posts in the colonial administration in Upper Volta, now

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...

, and from 1932 to 1942 in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

. In 1933, he took six months' leave to visit

, his spiritual leader. (See also:

Sufi studies Sufi studies is a particular branch of comparative studies that uses the technical lexicon of the Islamic mystics, the Sufis, to exemplify the nature of its ideas; hence the frequent reference to Sufi Orders. It may be divided into two main branch ...

) In 1942, he was appointed to the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (IFAN — the French Institute of Black Africa) in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, thanks to the benevolence of

Théodore Monod Théodore André Monod (9 April 1902 – 22 November 2000) was a French naturalist, humanist, scholar and explorer. Exploration Early in his career, Monod was made professor at the '' Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' and founded the '' Ins ...

, its director. At IFAN, he made ethnological surveys and collected traditions. For 15 years he devoted himself to research, which would later lead to the publication of his work ''L'Empire peul de Macina'' (''The Fula Empire of Macina''). In 1951, he obtained a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

grant, enabling him to travel to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and meet with intellectuals from Africanist circles, notably

Marcel Griaule Marcel Griaule (16 May 1898 – 23 February 1956) was a French author and anthropologist known for his studies of the Dogon people of West Africa, and for pioneering ethnographic field studies in France. He worked together with Germaine ...

. With Mali's independence in 1960, Bâ founded the Institute of Human Sciences in Bamako, and represented his country at the UNESCO general conferences. In 1962, he was elected to UNESCO's executive council, and in 1966 he helped establish a unified system for the transcription of African languages. His term in the executive council ended in 1970, and he devoted the remaining years of his life to research and writing. In 1971, he moved to the

Marcory Marcory is a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is one of the 10 urban communes of the city. Marcory is one of four communes of Abidjan that are entirely south of Ébrié Lagoon, the others being Treichville, Koumassi Koumassi is a suburb of Ab ...

suburb of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre ...

, and worked on classifying the archives of West African oral tradition that he had accumulated throughout his lifetime, as well as writing his memoirs (''Amkoullel l'enfant peul'' and ''Oui mon commandant!'', both published posthumously). He died in Abidjan in 1991.

Notable works

*''L'Empire peul du Macina'' (1955)—''The Fula Empire of Macina'' *''Vie en enseignement de Tierno Bokar, le sage de Bandiagara'' (1957, rewritten in 1980)—''The Life and Education of Tierno Bokar, the Wise Man of Bandiagara'' **translated into English and published as '' A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar (''2008) *''Kaïdara, récit initiatique peul'' (1969) *''L'étrange destin du Wangrin'' (1973)—T''he Strange Destiny of Wangrin'', **awarded the Grand prix de littérature d’Afrique noire (1974) *''L'Éclat de la grande étoile'' (1974)—''The Brightness of the Great Star'' *''Jésus vu par un musulman (1976)—Jesus, as Viewed by a Muslim'' * ''Petit Bodiel (conte peul) et version en prose de Kaïdara (1977)—Little Bodiel (a Fula tale) and a prose version of Kaïdara'' *''Njeddo Dewal, mère de la calamité (1985)—Njeddo Dewal, Mother of Calamity'' *''La poignée de poussière, contes et récits du Mali'' (1987)—''A Handful of Dust, Malian Stories'' *''Kaïdara'' (1988)—Kaydara: The Mysterious Journe

Memoirs

*''Amkoullel, l'enfant peul'' (1991)—''Amkoullel, the Fula Child'' *''Oui mon commandant!'' (1994)—''Yes, My Commander'' (published posthumously)

References

Bibliography

* Kassé, Maguèye, (2020)
« Le maître de la parole. Vie et œuvre d’Amadou Hampâté Bâ »
in ''BEROSE - International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology'', Paris.

External links