predecessor successor death_date birth_place death_place religion party office primeminister birth_date term_start spouse signature image article_title term_end name alma_mater
'' ` office created '' ' abdou diouf 20 december 2001 joal , french west africa -lrb- present-day senegal -rrb- verson , france roman catholicism socialist party of senegal 1st president of senegal abdou diouf 9 october 1906 6 september 1960 colette hubert senghor 1957 2001 ; his death senghorsig.jpg léopold sédar senghor.jpg léopold sédar senghor
 31 december 1980 léopold sédar senghor university of paris
léopold sédar senghor

léopold sédar senghor -lrb- 9 october 1906 -- 20 december 2001 -rrb- was a senegalese poet , politician , and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of senegal -lrb- 1960 -- 80 -rrb- .
senghor was the first african elected as a member of the `` académie française '' .
before independence , he founded the political party called the senegalese democratic bloc .
he is regarded by many as one of the most important african intellectuals of the 20th century .
