Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician, 1st President of Senegal (d. 2001)
Léopold Sédar Senghor (; French: [sɑ̃ɡɔʁ]; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who, for two decades, served as the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician of Négritude. Senghor was also the founder of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc party. Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. He won the 1985 International Nonino Prize in Italy. He is regarded by many as one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century.