Ousmane Socé

Ousmane Socé (born Oct. 31, 1911, Rufisque, Senegal, French West Africa—died May 1974, Dakar, Senegal) was a Senegalese writer and politician who was one of the first novelists of his country.

After attending Qurʾānic school Socé entered the colonial school system and became one of the first African students to obtain a scholarship to study at a French university.

While studying veterinary medicine Socé wrote two novels—Karim (1935) and Mirages de Paris (1937)—that were published in Paris. Karim anticipated Socé’s later concern with the problems that young Africans face when moving from rural to urban areas. In Mirages de Paris, Socé availed himself of his French experience and provided the first “been-to” novel in French, focusing on a tragic love story of a Senegalese student and his French girlfriend.

Socé also wrote down a number of animal tales and historical legends from the oral tradition of Senegal in Contes et légendes d’Afrique noire (1942; “Stories and Legends of Black Africa”), edited Le Phare du Sénégal (1952–57), and founded the magazine Bingo (1953). He also produced a volume of poetry, Rythmes du Khalam (1956). He was Senegal’s ambassador to the United States and delegate to the United Nations until increasing blindness compelled him to retire in 1968.