Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian ethnologist and author (b. 1901)
Amadou Hampâté Bâ (1900/1901 – 15 May 1991) was a Malian writer, historian and ethnologist. He was an influential figure in twentieth-century African literature and cultural heritage. He was a champion of Africa's oral tradition and traditional knowledge and is remembered for the saying: "whenever an old man dies, it is as though a library were burning down."