Former Director-General of UNESCO from 1974 to 1987, Amadou Mahtar Mbow, died on Tuesday at the age of 103, it has been learned APS from an informed source.
Academic and politician, Amadou Mahtar Mbow completed his higher education in France. He taught history and geography and was Minister of Education, then of Culture, between 1966 and 1970. He was Director General of UNESCO for thirteen years.
In June 2008, Amadou Mahtar Mbow chaired the National Conference of Senegal and the National Commission for Institutional Reforms (CNRI).
Biography of Amadou Makhtar Mbow
Born in Dakar in 1921, he grew up in Louga with his cousin Mamadou Nago Gueye, known as Doudou Gueye Nago, and Assane Diop Pathé, with whom he first entered the Koranic school and then the French school thanks to Blaise Diagne.
At the age of 18, he took part in the Second World War under the French flag. He joined the Air Force as a volunteer in March 1940 for the duration of the war. Demobilized in October 1940, he was recalled to active duty in January 1943, before being demobilized again in 1945. He continued his studies as an aeronautical engineer in France while deciding to take his baccalaureate in modern literature, which opened the doors of the Sorbonne to him. There, he obtained a degree in teaching literature and at the same time chaired the Association of Students of Paris and then founded the Federation of Black African Students in France.
From 1951 to 1953, he was a teacher at the Rosso College in Mauritania, before returning to Senegal where he created and directed the Basic Education Service from 1952 to 1957 and was appointed head of the Basic Education Missions of Darou Mousty, Badiana, Sénoudébou and then Gaya. He taught History and Geography until 1966; notably at the Faidherbe high school in Saint-Louis and then at the École Normale Supérieure in Dakar. In 1965 in Abidjan, he chaired the conference of experts responsible for proposing the reform of the history and geography programs of the French-speaking states of black Africa and Madagascar.
Already Minister of Education and Culture of Senegal during the period of internal autonomy (1957-1958), he resigned to engage in the fight for the independence of his country which would be effective in 1960. This acquired, he would become Minister of National Education (1966-1968), then of Culture and Youth (1968-1970) and deputy to the National Assembly, to the Executive Council in 1966 and to the Municipal Council of Saint-Louis.
In 1970 he was first appointed Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Education. Then, elected in 1974 and re-elected in 1980, he was Director-General of UNESCO from 1974 to 1987. Under his leadership, the commission headed by Seán MacBride delivered a report entitled Many Voices, One World which presented recommendations for establishing a new, more equitable world order of information and communication.
In 2008, at the age of 87, he agreed to chair the National Conference of Senegal launched by the Front Siggil Senegaal, which brought together for nearly a year the main opposition parties to the power of President Abdoulaye Wade and dozens of various organizations. Experienced and aware of his responsibilities, he had previously met with the Head of State, representatives of civil society, and religious dignitaries. On May 24, 2009, he officially declared the Conference closed.
After the work was completed, he announced his intention to continue writing his memoirs and to resume his lectures.
In December 2022, President Macky Sall inaugurates a university in Diamniadio named after Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow
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