Mamadou Dia

Of rural origin, Mamadou Dia was born in Khombole, in the Thies Region of Senegal, on 18 July 1910. His father, a veteran-turned-policeman, played a key role in transmitting the faith of Sufi Islam to his son and was an important example of rectitude for Dia.

A former pupil of the Blanchot elementary school in Saint-Louis, Dia began his more formal education in a Quranic school and transitioned into receiving a Western education at the École William Ponty, the principal training ground of the elite in French Africa in the 1920s and 30s. Before entering politics in the early 1940s (becoming motivated to do so only after the Vichy regime collapsed), he worked as a journalist, teacher and school director.

In his book “Africa, the Price of Freedom” (2001, edited by L'Harmattan) he stated his belief that he was born (according to some papers belonging to his father he had found) in July 1911, not 1910. A teacher altered official documents to allow him to pass the competition for the William Ponty school, as he would have been too young to compete otherwise.

Political career

Dia embarked on his political career in 1947 as a leader in the Grand Council of the Afrique occidentale française (AOF) and as Secretary General of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc (BDS) from 1948. He served in the French Senate from 1948 to 1956 and as deputy in the French National Assembly from 1956 to 1958, sitting with the parliamentary group of Overseas Independent (IOM). With Senghor, Dia formed the African Convention Party (PCA) in January 1957 from the BDS. When French president Charles de Gaulle proposed a referendum on the French community in 1958, Dia and Senghor held opposite views of the proposal: Dia favored breaking with France, whereas Senghor hoped to keep Senegal in the community.

During his two terms as a senator, Mamadou Dia voted for the ratification of the Atlantic Pact (July 28, 1949), the Marie law favorable to private education (September 12), and the ratification of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (1 April 1952). On March 26, 1955, he opposed plans relating to the WEU, the end of the occupation in Germany, its entry into NATO, and the Saar Agreement. It approved the draft law on state of emergency in Algeria (1 st April) and abstained on the draft electoral reform restoring the district election (15 November). He was also an active member of parliament, being a frequent speaker and devoting himself to the concerns of the overseas territories.

Dia was one of the main figures (namely, the vice premier) of the abortive Mali Federation of Senegal and Sudanese Republic (later Mali) until its collapse. Once Senegalese independence became official on August 20, 1960, he became prime minister, in tandem with Senghor as President of the Republic of Senegal. Senghor, as a Catholic in a largely Islamic country, valued having a widely connected and able Muslim as his deputy. However, Dia’s time as Prime Minister was often controversial and his radical socialist views often clashed with those of the more moderate Senghor.