Person

Blaise Diagne

1872–1934 · 20th century

Blaise Diagne was a Senegalese politician, elected in 1914 as deputy for the Four Communes of Senegal, the first black African in the French Chamber of Deputies. His laws of 1915 and 1916 confirmed the French citizenship of the communes' inhabitants. In 1918 he recruited tens of thousands of West African soldiers for the First World War, and he later served as under-secretary of state for the colonies.

Blaise Diagne
Image: Agence Meurisse (domaine public, voir fiche détaillée Gallica) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

French West AfricaMilitary, Governance, Summary

Mentioned in 1 state history

French Senegal

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Blaise Diagne. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/blaise-diagne
MLA
“Blaise Diagne.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/blaise-diagne. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Blaise Diagne.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/blaise-diagne.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Blaise Diagne’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/blaise-diagne (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻