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Article: Diop, David Mandessi
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of World Biography
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David Mandessi Diop
David Mandessi Diop (1927
–
1960), born in France to African parents, was a poet of the Negritude movement, rejecting colonialism and Western values and celebrating African people and culture. Although he died when he was only 33 years old, his poems, described as angry and revolutionary, yet hopeful and optimistic, are read and studied today in Africa and around the world.
Born in Exile
Diop was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1927, the third of five children. His mother was from Cameroon and his father was from Senegal, and as a child Diop traveled often between Europe and Africa. His mother raised the children in German-occupied, World War II France, after ...