Birago Diop

Birago Ishmael Diop (Ouakam, Senegal; December 11, 1906 - Dakar, Senegal; November 25, 1989) was a Senegalese poet and storyteller, active writer in the Négritude movement in the 1930s, as well as a veterinarian and diplomat.

Biography

He was born in Ouakam, a small village near Dakar. In 1920 he went to study at Lycée Faidherbe in Saint-Louis, and later on he went to study veterinary medicine at the University of Toulouse, and worked as a veterinary surgeon for the French colonial government in several West African countries. Throughout his civil service career, he collected and reworked Wolof folktales, and also wrote poetry, memoirs, and a play. He served as first Senegalese ambassador to Tunisia from 1960 to 1964.

Works

*Narrative
**"Tales of Amadou Koumba" ("Les contes d'Amadou Koumba", 1947, tr. 1966)
**"New Tales of Amadou Koumba" ("Les nouveaux contes d'Amadou Koumba", 1958)
**"Tales and Commentaries" ("Contes et Lavanes", 1963)
**"Contes d'Awa" (1977)
*Poetry
**"Lures and Glimmers" ("Leurres et Lueurs", 1960)
*Drama
**"L'os de Mor Lam" (1977)
*Memoirs
**"La Plume raboutée" (1978)
**"A rebrousse-temps" (1982)
**"A rebrousse-gens" (1985)
**"Du temps de..." (1986)
**"Et les yeux pour me dire" (1989)

External links

* [http://www.factbites.com/topics/Birago-Diop Numerous links about Birago Diop]

*fr icon [http://neveu01.chez-alice.fr/ Birago Diop]