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BIRAGO ISMAEL DIOP

Senegalese author Birago Ismael Diop, b. Dec. 11, 1906, d. Nov. 25, 1989, is known for his short stories based on African folklore. In France in the early 1930s, Diop and other French-speaking black writers founded the literary movement Negritude, which sought a return to black cultural values. Diop based his early short-story collection Tales of Amadou Koumba (1947; Eng. trans., 1966) on the tales of traditional griots (storytellers). he adapted several of his stories into plays and published a poetry collection and three volumes of autobiography.

DAVID DIOP

David Mandessi Diop, b. July 9, 1927, d. September 1960, was an African poet who assimilated French culture and spent much of his life in France. His poetry protested against black economic and cultural alienation. He became famous with a small volume of poems, Coups de pilon (Poundings, 1956). Diop's unpublished manuscripts were burned in a plane crash that killed him and his family.

David Diop. France (1927-1960).

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