Ngalandou Diouf
Encyclopedia
Ngalandou Diouf (14 September 1875 - 6 August 1941) born in Saint-Louis
Senegal
, was the first African elected official from the advent of colonialism in the territory of French West Africa
.
family of mixed Wolof
and Serer
background, and as a native of one of the Four Communes
of Senegal considered part of France
, 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.
of Rufisque
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 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
Sufi brotherhood which defeated the Socialist and Mouride
brotherhood coalition of Lamine Guèye, the attorney who would later carry out much of Diagne's political program.
. 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
, having already fled. Diouf had opposed the armistice with the Germans, even drafting an appeal on 19 June 1940 with the Guadeloupe
an Deputies Gratien Candace
and Maurice Satineau
to President Albert Lebrun
that called on the government to continue the war in the colonies
. The Massilia Deputies, a rump of 27 Assembly members, including Diouf, Édouard Daladier
, Georges Mandel
, Jean Zay
, and Pierre Mendès-France
, boarded the Massilia, a ship chartered to transport Assembly members to Casablanca
, where they planned to set up a government in exile. 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.
and major streets in both Dakar and Saint-Louis
are named for him.
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis...
Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, was the first African elected official from the advent of colonialism in the territory of French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
.
Early life
Diouf was born to a MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
family of mixed Wolof
Wolof people
The Wolof are an ethnic group found in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania.In Senegal, the Wolof form an ethnic plurality with about 43.3% of the population are Wolofs...
and Serer
Serer people
The Serer people along with the Jola people are acknowledged to be the oldest inhabitants of The Senegambia....
background, and as a native of one of the Four Communes
Four Communes
The "Four Communes" of Senegal were the four oldest colonial towns in French controlled west Africa. In 1848, the French Second Republic extended the rights of full French citizenship to the inhabitants of Saint-Louis, Dakar, Goree, and Rufisque...
of Senegal considered part of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 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 communeFour Communes
The "Four Communes" of Senegal were the four oldest colonial towns in French controlled west Africa. In 1848, the French Second Republic extended the rights of full French citizenship to the inhabitants of Saint-Louis, Dakar, Goree, and Rufisque...
of Rufisque
Rufisque
Rufisque 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 . In the past it was an important port city in its own right, but is now a suburb of Dakar....
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
Blaise Diagne
Blaise Diagne was a French political leader, the first black African elected to the French National Assembly, and mayor of Dakar.- Background :...
, 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
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, 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
Tijaniyyah
The Tijāniyyah is a sufi tariqa originating in North Africa but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, and Northern Nigeria and Sudan...
Sufi brotherhood which defeated the Socialist and Mouride
Mouride
The Mouride brotherhood is a large Islamic Sufi order most prominent in Senegal and The Gambia, with headquarters in the holy city of Touba, Senegal...
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 PelletanCamille Pelletan
Charles Camille Pelletan was a French politician and journalist, Minister of Marine in Emile Combes' Bloc des gauches cabinet from 1902 to 1905...
. With the German invasion of France in 1940, Diouf did not vote against
The Vichy 80
The Vichy 80 were a group of elected French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted against the constitutional change that dissolved the Third Republic and established an authoritarian regime known as Vichy France....
the 10 July 1940 granting of power to the collaborationist regime of Marshal Petain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
, having already fled. Diouf had opposed the armistice with the Germans, even drafting an appeal on 19 June 1940 with the Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
an Deputies Gratien Candace
Gratien Candace
Gratien Candace was a politician from Guadeloupe who served in the French National Assembly from 1912-1942 and served as vice president of the French National Assembly from 1938-1940 .- references :*...
and Maurice Satineau
Maurice Satineau
Maurice Satineau was a politician from Guadeloupe who served in the French Senate from 1948-1958 and the French National Assembly from 1936-1942 .- references :...
to President Albert Lebrun
Albert Lebrun
Albert François Lebrun 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 center-right Democratic Republican Alliance .-Biography:...
that called on the government to continue the war in the colonies
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
. The Massilia Deputies, a rump of 27 Assembly members, including Diouf, Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
, Georges Mandel
Georges Mandel
Georges Mandel was a French politician, journalist, and French Resistance leader.-Biography:Born Louis George Rothschild in Chatou, Yvelines, was the son of a tailor...
, Jean Zay
Jean Zay
Jean Zay is a French politician born in Orléans on 6 August 1904 and assassinated 20 June 1944 by the miliciens in Molles . He was the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts from 1936 until 1939....
, and Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...
, boarded the Massilia, a ship chartered to transport Assembly members to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, where they planned to set up a government in exile. After disembarking at Port-Vendres
Port-Vendres
Port-Vendres is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the cote Vermeille in south west France, Port-Vendres is renowned for its numerous fish and sea food restaurants. You can watch the fishing...
, 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 DakarDakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
and major streets in both Dakar and Saint-Louis
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis...
are named for him.