Léopold Sédar Senghor's library heading to Senegal
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


Léopold Sédar Senghor's library heading to Senegal
Léopold Sédar Senghor: Black Renaissance and Racism [Mezu, S Okechukwu].

by Aida Alami



NEW YORK, NY.- More than 20 years after the death of Léopold Sédar Senghor — the writer, poet and first president of Senegal after the country’s independence from France — his name is still generating headlines.

In April, a beneficiary of his sister-in-law’s estate in Paris auctioned Senghor’s private library of more than 800 works, including 343 signed books. Worried about preserving his cultural legacy, the Senegalese government stepped in to halt the sale and bought the entire collection last month. Weeks after the deal was finalized, the volumes are now heading to Senegal to the delight of literary scholars, historians and archivists.

Taken together, the collection tells the stories of the relationships Senghor fostered with other writers, intellectuals and politicians from around the world. It also provides a window into his contributions to the anticolonial Negritude movement, a literary flowering influenced by the Harlem Renaissance that brought together Black writers and scholars from French colonies in Africa and the Caribbean during the 1930s.

“Beyond the sentimental value, this collection constitutes an invaluable contribution to better understanding Senghor’s thought and the history of 20th-century ideas,” said Alioune Diaw, a researcher at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal.

The books are written by authors from Madagascar to the United States. Some are simply signed by Senghor. (One of his earliest annotations is scribbled on a book by Jamaican American writer Claude McKay, a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance.) Others contain several passages he underlined with a pen and a ruler.

Anne Schneider, a researcher at the University of Caen in Normandy, France, viewed the book collection for the first time in April. Reading passages that Senghor had highlighted, she said, was a fascinating insight into what piqued his interest. “The archives remind us that he was someone with very current thinking on humanism, universalism and interculturality,” she said. “These are all extremely modern themes.”

Hundreds of titles include signatures from prominent people of his time, such as French poet Louis Aragon, former French President François Mitterrand and American writer Richard Wright. In a copy of his 1938 collection of novellas, “Uncle Tom’s Children,” Wright wrote: “To Leopold Sedhar Senghor, my brother in the fight for freedom.” In another inscription, Vietnamese writer Pham Duy Khiem even refers Senghor to pages in his novel “Nam et Sylvie” where a character is inspired by Senghor himself.

“These weren’t just conventional signatures, but very strong human relationships,” said Claire Riffard, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research.

The collection also reveals how close he was to many other influential writers of the Negritude movement. “To the old Leopold Sedar Senghor,” begins a humorous note scribbled by Martinican poet and writer Aimé Césaire, in a copy of his “Discourse on Colonialism,” published in 1950. “I am sure that despite his political affiliations, he hates colonization, destructive of cultures and civilizations.”

Before he died in 2001, Senghor, who was president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980, donated a majority of his manuscripts to the National Library of France in 1979. His remaining libraries were dispersed among his estates in Dakar, Paris and Normandy, where he spent the past two decades of his life with his wife, Colette Hubert. In that house, after the end of his presidency, Senghor spent long hours in his library studying and writing letters until his final days. Hubert donated the house, which is available for the public to visit, and its contents to the town of Verson when she died in 2019.

Last year, the Senegalese government bought some of Senghor’s other belongings, including jewelry, military decorations and diplomatic gifts. Those items are currently being stored at the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar.

Céline Labrune-Badiane, a historian, was among those who raised alarm about the necessity of keeping the collection together when the auction was first made public. “It was already dispersed,” she said. “It’s a good thing that some of them are now going to be reunited in Dakar.”

It is unclear where the books will be stored or if they will be available to scholars.

Still, Mouhamadou Moustapha Sow, a historian at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, said that the arrival of Senghor’s items was a welcome return.

“The first problem we face as African historians is access to postcolonial archives,” he said. “Bringing back the heritage of Senghor is a reconquest of our cultural sovereignty.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

July 2, 2024

A culture war erupted over UK stately homes. Who won?

On July 13, a Carmel Estate goes up for bid at Turner Auctions + Appraisals

1945 draft of WWII Japanese 'Instrument of Surrender' leads Quinn's July 16 Rare Book Auction

Motorheads: Get your kicks at Morphy's high-octane July 11 Automobilia & Petroliana Auction

The Rubik's Cube turns 50

Gagosian Paris presents a two-part group exhibition organized in association with the Olympic Museum

MoMA PS1 presents process-focused exhibition of seven New York-based artists

16 looks spanning Taylor Swift's eras will go on temporary display this summer at the V&A South Kensington

55 Walker opens a solo exhibition of works by Paula Wilson

Léopold Sédar Senghor's library heading to Senegal

Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer's decades after 'The Notebook'

The Museo del Prado is publishing the first two titles in its "Writing the Prado" collection

Dayton Art Institute opens newly renovated outdoor garden space

Zimmerli introduces new works by 14 international artists who examine accessibility in the museum world

Ismail Kadare, 88, dies; His novels brought Albania's plight to the world

SculptureCenter hands over the lower level gallery to Alexa West

A new installation by Daniel Otero Torres celebrates the unsung heroes of environmental activism

Shania Twain, officially a 'Legend'

The broad appeal of the Elsa dress

Betty Boop time travels to New York, and Broadway, next spring

Former Victorian printworks converted into 'an amazing place to study Art'

National Portrait Gallery acquires earliest known photograph of a US First Lady

Somerset House to open an exhibition exploring the joy, friendship, resistance and art of Black LGBTQ+ people in Britain

'Robeson' illuminates a titanic artist and activist

Essential PPE Supplies for Your Business: A Comprehensive Guide

Top Waterproofing Methods to Protect Your Building's Foundation

Top & Professional AC Repair Services in Dubai




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful