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Présence Africaine

Logo: presenceafricaine.com3

Pan-African cultural, political and literary magazine

Présence Africaine (French for African Presence) is a pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris, France, and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence Africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The journal was highly influential in the Pan-Africanist movement, the decolonisation struggle of former French colonies, and the birth of the Négritude movement.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1947Founded1

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Présence Africaine (French for African Presence) is a pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris, France, and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence Africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The journal was highly influential in the Pan-Africanist movement, the decolonisation struggle of former French colonies, and the birth of the Négritude movement.2

The story

Founded by Alioune Diop in 1947.1

Alioune Diop remained publisher until his death in 1980, when his wife Christiane Yandé Diop took over. The 50th anniversary of Présence Africaine was celebrated at UNESCO in Paris in 1997, and attended by Daniel Maximin and Wole Soyinka, among others.

As of the end of 2007, Présence Africaine had run to 173 issues, with its Editions Présence Africaine publishing more than 400 works, 322 of which are still in print. Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire, first published in 1955, remains the company's best-selling work. In addition, new African works are published, by novelists including Hamidou Dia, Antoinette Tidjani Alou and Dieudonné Gnammankou and historians such as Aboucrary Moussa Lam.

Présence Africaine's current publications director is Romuald Fonkoua, professor of comparative French literature at Université Marc Bloch in Strasbourg.

From Wikipedia’s article on Présence Africaine, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Présence Africaine, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Timeline

  1. 1947Founded Founded1

Sources

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