Léopold Sédar SENGHOR, born October 9, 1906 in Joal (Senegal) and died December 20, 2001 in Verson (France), was a French then Senegalese statesman, poet, writer. Léopold Sédar SENGHOR was the first President of the Republic of Senegal (1960-1980). Léopold Sédar SENGHOR is also the first African to sit on the French Academy. Léopold Sédar SENGHOR was also a minister in France before the independence of Senegal.