1. Mamadou Dia was a Senegalese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957 until 1962, when he was forced to resign and was imprisoned amidst allegations that he was planning to stage a military coup to overthrow President Leopold Sedar Senghor.
Mamadou Dia's father, a veteran turned into a policeman, played a key role in transmitting the faith of Sufi Islam to his son and was an important example of rectitude for Dia.
Mamadou Dia embarked on his political career in 1947 as a leader in the Grand Council of the Afrique occidentale francaise and as Secretary General of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc from 1948.
Mamadou Dia served in the French Senate from 1948 to 1956 and as deputy in the French National Assembly from 1956 to 1958, sitting with the parliamentary group of Overseas Independent.
Mamadou Dia was an active member of parliament, being a frequent speaker and devoting himself to the concerns of the overseas territories.
Mamadou Dia was one of the main figures of the abortive Mali Federation of Senegal and Sudanese Republic until its collapse.
Mamadou Dia began to implement some of the ideas he had articulated in his book Reflexions sur l'Economie de l'Afrique Noire.
Mamadou Dia responded by invoking his executive powers and ordering the army to lock the assembly building before the parliament could vote on the motion.
Senghor declared that Mamadou Dia attempted a coup and mobilized the army, whom allied themselves with Senghor overall.
Mamadou Dia's lost political power did not break his spirit.
Mamadou Dia attempted to restart his career in the early 1980s when Abdou Diouf introduced multiparty democracy, but the small, Mamadou Dia-led People Democratic Movement found little support.
Mamadou Dia accompanied the Senegalese state during the years of decolonization and remained one of the main figures in the construction of modern Senegal.
Mamadou Dia even acquired the role of national treasure, as he continued to write diatribes in the local press well into his 90s regularly.
Mamadou Dia was noted especially for his attacks on the neo-liberal economic policies of the current president, Abdoulaye Wade, who had been one of the lawyers who defended Dia in 1963.
When Leopold Senghor and Mamadou Dia led Senegal to independence, they had very clear ideas of what ideological and philosophical values would form the basis of the new State.
Senghor and Mamadou Dia had to renounce to their ideas somewhat and accept a compromise with the Marabouts to guarantee their political support, especially during elections.