Paul Niger (21 December 1915 – 22 June 1962) was a poet and political activist from Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. He was born Albert Béville, but Niger's passion for Africa led him to take the pen name of the great African Niger River. His major theme was Africa and the pride that he felt in being a descendant of Africans. According to the Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature, Niger completed secondary studies at the Lycée Carnot in the town of Pointe-à-Pitre. Later on, during World War II, he travelled to Paris to attend the École de la France d’Outre-mer, a school established to train colonial officers. Niger was a supporter of the Négritude, a black consciousness movement founded by Aimé Césaire, Léon-Gontran Damas, and Léopold Senghor (early to mid 1900s).[1]
Paul Niger | |
|---|---|
| Born | Albert Thomas Gaston Béville  21 December 1915 Basse-Terre (France) |
| Died | 22 June 1962 (aged 46) Deshaies (France) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Writer, poet, journalist |
| Political party | Rassemblement Démocratique Africain |
Edward A. Jones, publisher of Voices of Negritude (1971), described Niger's poetry as, “at once violent and tender, like the land of his ancestors”.[2]
Niger was one of those killed in the crash of Air France Flight 117.[3]
Bibliography edit
Herbert Mnguni, Mbukeni (1998). Education as a Social Institution and Ideological Process. Germany: Waxman Verlag GmbH. ISBN 3830956967.
References edit
- ^ Figueredo, D. H. (2006). Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature. Vol. 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 580. ISBN 0-313-32744-0.
- ^ Edward A., Jones (1971). Voices of Negritude. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press. p. 82.
- ^ Ronald Selbonne. Albert Béville alias Paul Niger : une négritude géométrique : Guadeloupe-France-Afrique. Préf. Christiane Taubira, Matoury (Guyane française) : Ibis rouge, 2013 OCLC 858278595 ISBN 9782343010984 (in French)
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