The cry of alarm from the friends of Léopold Sédar Senghor against the dispersal of his library at auction

Will the Senegalese state, in the midst of a revolution with the coming to power of leaders who intend to make a clean sweep of the past, let it happen? Part of the legacy of Léopold Sédar Senghor must, in fact, be dispersed at auction this Tuesday in Caen. Some 400 lots from the library that the master owned at his Parisian home on Square de Tocqueville are at stake. There is great excitement among the friends and admirers of the champion of negritude. Word of mouth is in full swing. Calls are increasing on social networks to ask the authorities in Dakar to intervene. At 97 years old, Henri Senghor, his uncle's loyal follower, who represented his country in the four corners of the planet during his career as a diplomat, is trying to find solutions. Just like the Cercle Richelieu Senghor and Gérard Bosio, close collaborator of the poet president, who does everything possible to maintain the memory of the deceased.

In Paris, Magatte Seye, the ambassador of Senegal, assures that he made a proposal on behalf of his authority. The heiress of Léopold Sédar Senghor would, however, insist, at all costs, on proceeding with this sale at auction. And this, as is often the case, to pay particularly crushing inheritance taxes. Died in 2019, Colette Senghor, the second wife of the president who died in 2001, had bequeathed a large part of her property to the woman who was her lady-in-waiting for many years in Verson, in Normandy. Caught by the throat, she has already sold a painting by Soulages dating from 1958. Last October, she was preparing to disperse jewelry and decorations, including the necklace of the Order of the Nile. At the last minute, these auctions were suspended on the orders of Macky Sall, who has just left power in Dakar at the beginning of April. For 240,000 euros, the Senegalese state bought the complex “to preserve the national heritage”.

Could the total value of the lots offered this Tuesday – from 20 to 3,000 euros each – reach this sum? Between Verson, Dakar and Paris, Léopold Sédar Senghor owned several very beautiful libraries. According to Gérard Bosio, the collection which is now at the heart of the news “includes many rare works, bound by the president and signed by their authors”. Among them are a number of essays on negritude, notably the “Discourse on Colonialism” by his old friend Aimé Césaire; books signed by African or Haitian writers including some by the ethnologist and diplomat Jean Price-Mars; collections of French poetry, including one sent by Louis Aragon, and others by Latin or British authors. The French grammar teacher Senghor, Georges Pompidou's khâgne companion at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, was a distinguished Latinist, but also a translator of English poetry.

Also read: “The life of Léopold Sédar Senghor is a dazzling journey of intelligence and will”

Between now and Tuesday, an intervention by the new Senegalese president, Diomaye Faye, would have political and diplomatic significance. Such a gesture would indicate that the father of the nation is not sacrificed on the altar of vengeful Pan-Africanism; and that the link with France – a country he cherished – is not completely broken. Senghor having been a member of the French Academy, “a gesture from Paris would also be welcome,” remarks Claude Musavyi, an informed actor in the Francophonie. “The National Library of France could be a buyer,” adds Gérard Bosio, who nevertheless believes that this library would have its place in the Senghor museum that he is designing within that of black civilizations, in Dakar.

A few hours before the fateful hammer blows, the countdown is on so that the treasures of the man who forever marked the history of Africa and the dialogue of cultures are not scattered.