Character Catalog

Senghor's first poetry collection, exploring exile, nostalgia for Africa, and the beauty of Serer culture. It establishes the aesthetic and thematic foundations of his entire poetic work.

A collection dedicated to African soldiers who died for France, blending funeral tribute with a denunciation of colonialism. It is one of the most moving works on the condition of the Senegalese tirailleurs.

A foundational anthology compiled by Senghor, prefaced by Jean-Paul Sartre under the title 'Black Orpheus'. It established Négritude as a literary and political movement recognized on a global scale.

A collection considered the pinnacle of Senghor's poetic art, combining African rhythms, biblical imagery, and surrealist inspiration. The poem 'Chaka' reinterprets the history of the Zulu chief.

The first volume of his political and cultural essays, which theorizes Négritude as Africa's contribution to universal civilization. A key reference work for understanding his philosophical thought.

The founding document of the Republic of Senegal, drafted under Senghor's direct impetus, which enshrined the principles of democracy, secularism, and national unity in the fundamental law.

Senghor's last major poetry collection, published just before his political retirement, marked by a testamentary tone and a meditation on death, memory, and the universal.

Naked woman, black woman / Clothed in your colour that is life, in your form that is beauty / I grew up in your shadow; the softness of your hands bandaged my eyes.

Negritude is the sum of the cultural values of the Black world, as they are expressed in the life, institutions and works of Black people. It is not a racism; it is an awakening of consciousness, a solidarity.

Our vocation is to revive the values of Negritude, to integrate them into the current of human universalism. It is not a withdrawal into oneself; it is a contribution to the civilization of the Universal.

We had dreamed together, you and I, of a new poetry that would be our own: rooted in the black earth, open to the four winds of the spirit.

Senegal is free and independent. But independence is not an end in itself; it is the means to build together, in dignity and fraternity, a modern nation.

Senghor's birthplace on the Senegalese Petite Côte, the site of his Serer childhood that he celebrated abundantly in his poetry. Joal remains today a place of remembrance and literary pilgrimage.

The site of Senghor's intellectual formation in the 1930s, where he attended the Sorbonne and met Aimé Césaire to found the Négritude movement. The cafés and libraries of the Latin Quarter were the cradle of his earliest ideas.

The seat of the Senegalese presidency, where Senghor governed from 1960 to 1980. It was from this palace that he led one of the most stable states in post-colonial Africa.

The Norman town where Senghor spent his final years and died on 20 December 2001. His residence in Normandy illustrated the European dimension of his life and multiple identity.

Founded during Senghor's presidency, this university was a cornerstone of his project for African intellectual development. It now bears the name of Cheikh Anta Diop University.

Senghor composed all his poems and essays with a pen, attaching paramount importance to the physical act of writing as meditation. His fountain pen was his daily working instrument, used for both poetry and state speeches.

A traditional Mandingue musical instrument with 21 strings, the kora accompanied the recitation of Senghor's poems during public performances. He himself indicated in his collections that his poems should be read to the sound of the kora.

A loose, colourful traditional garment worn notably during African official ceremonies. Senghor alternated between Western dress for diplomatic meetings and the boubou to assert his African cultural identity.

France's supreme decoration, which Senghor received in recognition of his contributions to literature and politics. It symbolised the fertile ambivalence of his identity, caught between French heritage and African pride.

A work he compiled and published in 1948, which became an essential reference in Francophone African literature. This book had a place on his desk and in his personal library as a cornerstone of his cultural struggle.

Senghor collected masks and sculptures from West Africa, which he displayed in his offices in Dakar and in France. These works illustrated his conviction that African art was a civilisation in its own right.