Tributes from Africa and France have multiplied since the announcement of his death. The former first lady of Senegal Colette Senghor, wife of former president and poet Léopold Sédar Senghor, died at the age of 93 in his family home in Verson, (Calvados), said Monday, November 27 the Norman municipality .

The deceased will be buried Thursday, November 28, (and not Wednesday as originally announced) at the Bel-Air Catholic Cemetery in Dakar, near her husband, according to his wishes. His body arrived Tuesday in Dakar in the evening.

Homage to Macky Sall and Abdou Diouf

"Elegant and discreet", Colette Senghor was "always watch and support her husband in his political life and was the source of his inspiration in his artistic life," said the municipality. "I learned with emotion the reminder to God of Mrs. Colette Senghor, I pay homage to the 1st First Lady of Senegal, discreet woman and woman of the shadow of the late Pte Léopold S. Senghor To her family, I present, on behalf of the nation, my condolences more saddened ", for its part reacted in the night on Twitter Senegalese President Macky Sall.

I learned with emotion the reminder to God of Mrs. Colette Senghor, I pay homage to the 1st First Lady of Senegal, discreet woman and woman of the shadow of the late Pte Léopold S. Senghor. To his family, I present, in the name of the nation, my most saddened condolences.

- Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) November 18, 2019

Abdou Diouf, successor of Léopold Sédar Senghor as president from 1981 to 2000, also paid a tribute to the poet. "The world has known little First Lady like Colette Senghor ... I must say that I am saddened by the death of Colette Senghor, she was a wonderful woman from every point of view, she was a remarkable woman. even that it's one of the most remarkable first ladies in the world and in history, "said the former president, according to Les Echos.

"Muse" and "tender companion"

Born November 20, 1925 in Mouzay, in the Meuse, Colette Senghor, born Hubert, came from a family of old Norman nobility. She became the second wife of Léopold Sédar Senghor, while he was a member of Senegal, October 18, 1957. The young woman is presented to the African parliamentarian shortly after his divorce from the Guyanese, Ginette Eboué, daughter of the former governor of Chad Félix Éboué. The president, who had two children at first wedding, will describe this union as "marriage by duty" as opposed to his marriage of love with Colette, nineteen years younger.

Sad not to be at Colette #Senghor's funeral in Verson. She had made known and loved the #Normandie to her husband poet, defender of #francophonie, former pdt of #Senegal. Admired and respected, she embodied this inexorable bond of friendship between France and Africa

- Hervé Morin (@Herve_Morin) November 22, 2019

Their marriage is celebrated on October 18, 1957. Of their idile is born the following year a son, Philippe, who died in a car accident in Senegal on June 6, 19811. In the collection of poems "Letters of wintering", Léopold Sédar Senghor evokes the pain of the loss of his son but also devotes a large place to his "muse" and "tender companion.

From 1960, during the years of her husband's presidency, Colette focused on taking no public political position, devoting herself entirely to her poetic productions. When Senghor leaves power, the couple is frequently found in Normandy.

Funeral mass for Colette Senghor in Veron: Abdou Diouf and his wife made the trip: Colette Senghor, the wife of the former president of Senegal, died on November 18, at the age of 93. Second wife of Léopold Sédar Senghor, ... https://t.co/xhA1tEa8VX pic.twitter.com/W9Caniaflw

- Dakaractu.com (@dakaractu) November 24, 2019

Colette Senghor, at the bedside of the memory of the poet-president

When her husband died in 2001 in Verson, Colette Senghor paid particular attention to her husband's memory. It has made sure that part of its archives is kept, in particular, in the Djilor room in the Espace Senghor in Verson ", adds the commune which pays homage each year to this" beautiful heritage "through its programming cultural.

Poet and writer, Léopold Sédar Senghor was a champion of Négritude, a movement for the defense of the cultural values ​​of the black world that he founded in the 1930s with Martinique Aimé Césaire and Guyanese Leon Gontran Damas. Associate in French grammar, he was the first African member of the French Academy.