Ahmadou Hampâté Bâ

Malian writer who preserved West African oral traditions from cultural erasure

Ahmadou Hampâté Bâ (1900–1991), the Malian ethnologist and UNESCO ambassador, dedicated his life to rescuing Africa's oral heritage from oblivion. His famous aphorism 'In Africa, when an old man dies, a library burns' became a rallying cry for cultural preservation.

As a living bridge between traditions, Bâ documented intricate systems of African philosophy, astronomy, and medicine preserved through griots (oral historians). His magnum opus The Living Tradition systematically recorded Bambara and Fulani cosmogonies that challenge Western notions of 'primitive' Africa.

During French colonial rule, Bâ cleverly used his administrative positions to secretly collect forbidden traditional knowledge. Post-independence, he fought against both Eurocentric academia and African leaders dismissing pre-colonial heritage. His transcription of the 18,000-verse Epic of Sundiata remains the most complete version of this Malian foundation myth.