Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane dies at 98

The world-famous Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane has passed away. The tragic news was announced by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomai Faye on his official page on the social network X.

Kana was 98 years old; he died in Dakar.

“On behalf of the nation and on my own behalf, I express my most sincere condolences to his family, his loved ones and the entire world of literature,” the head of state wrote.

Bassirou Diomai Fai also emphasized that Kane's book, An Ambiguous Adventure, gave generations of Africans words to help them think through a question that still haunts us: the question of how to open ourselves to the knowledge of the world without losing anything of who we are.

Sheikh Hamid Kana gained worldwide fame from his debut novel, Ambiguous Superlatives, published in 1961, which immediately became a classic of African literature.