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5 figures

Léopold Sédar Senghor

1906 – 2001

Poet-president who co-founded Négritude.

Senegal·Literature · Philosophy

Nelson Mandela

1918 – 2013

Twenty-seven years in prison, then negotiated the end of apartheid without civil war.

South Africa·Peace · Philosophy · LiteratureNobelFull profile

Amílcar Cabral

1924 – 1973

Agronomist whose theory of culture and liberation shaped decolonisation.

Guinea-Bissau·Philosophy · History

Kwasi Wiredu

1931 – 2022

Built modern African philosophy on Akan concepts and consensual democracy.

Ghana·Philosophy

Ali Mazrui

1933 – 2014

Defined the 'triple heritage' framework for African identity.

Kenya·History · Philosophy