Samory

Samory

 

(full name, Samory Touré). Born circa 1830 in Sa-nankoro, Upper Guinea; died June 2, 1900, in Ndjolé, Gabon. African state figure and military leader.

Owing to his courage and military ability, Samory advanced rapidly and became the military commander for the ruler of a state in Upper Guinea. In the 1870’s and early 1880’s he founded Wassoulou, a state of the Malinke people in the basin of the upper Niger. Under Samory’s leadership the Malinke stubbornly resisted French troops for 18 years. Near the end of the 19th century, under the pressure of superior enemy forces, Samory and the majority of the population of Wassoulou moved to the northern Ivory Coast. Samory’s main forces were encircled by the French in 1898, and he was captured and exiled to Gabon.

REFERENCES

Ponomarev, D. K. Geroi Afriki. Moscow, 1971.
Subbotin, V. A. Kolonii Frantsii v 1870–1918 gg. Moscow, 1973.
Person, J. Samori, vols. 1–2. Nimes [1969–70.].