Biography of Mariama Bâ
In 1980, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, a 51-year-old Senegalese woman received the very first Noma Prize for publication in Africa. She said: “In all cultures, the woman who demands or protests is devalued.” No one would have bet on this teacher from a traditional Muslim background, mother of nine children, whose two books were waiting for this moment to change African literature.
In Brief
| Full Name | Mariama Bâ |
| Birth | April 17, 1929, Dakar, Senegal |
| Death | August 17, 1981, Dakar, Senegal (lung cancer) |
| Field | Novel, essay — Francophone African literature |
| Emblematic Works | Une si longue lettre, Un Chant écarlate |
| Awards | Noma Prize (1980), Grand Prix Littéraire d’Afrique Noire (1982) |
Key Dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1929 | Birth in Dakar, into a Muslim family of the Lebu ethnicity |
| 1933 | Death of her mother; placed with her strict traditionalist maternal grandparents |
| 1943 | First place in the entrance competition for the École normale de Rufisque, at age 14 |
| 1947 | Teacher’s diploma; first text published, noted by Emmanuel Mounier in the journal Esprit |
| 1979 | Publication of Une si longue lettre |
| 1980 | Noma Prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair |
| 1981 | Death; posthumous publication of Un Chant écarlate |
Between Two Worlds
Mariama Bâ was born in 1929 in Dakar, under the French colonial yoke. Her father, Amadou Bâ, became the first Senegalese Minister of Health in 1957. Her mother died when Mariama was only four years old; the child was taken in by her strict traditionalist maternal grandparents. Her grandmother considered school a triviality for girls. Her father refused to yield.
At 14, Mariama Bâ achieved first place in the entrance competition for the École normale de Rufisque. Her final year thesis, a short poetic text on “the lovely place of her birth,” fascinated Emmanuel Mounier who published it in Esprit in 1947. Maurice Genevoix saw there “a human document if ever there was one.”
She taught for twelve years before her health forced her to leave the classroom. Married three times, mother of nine children, divorced from deputy Obèye Diop, she campaigned for women and founded the Cercle Fémina, denouncing polygamy and genital mutilations — themes that would nourish her novels.
Une si longue lettre — a novel that resonates
In 1979, at age 50, she published her first novel. Une si longue lettre, written in the form of a letter, follows Ramatoulaye, a widow who writes to her childhood friend Aissatou to recount her life and her rebellion. Her husband had just died — and married a second, younger woman the day after his funeral. Ramatoulaye is betrayed, humiliated by a social system that weighs on all women of her generation. The Noma Prize jury judged: “Mariama Bâ offers testimony on the female condition in Africa while giving it true imaginative depth.”
The novel won the first Noma Prize for publication in Africa, in 1980. Translated into more than twenty languages, it entered the curriculum of hundreds of universities. Her second novel, Un Chant écarlate, explores the same struggle from another angle: a French diplomat’s wife, Mireille, marries a Senegalese student, Ousmane, who abandons her for a traditional cousin. The novel, completed shortly before her death, was published posthumously — first edition dated 1981 by her Dakar publisher, Nouvelles Éditions Africaines; some sources indicate 1982.
Legacy and Influence
Only two novels. That is enough. Une si longue lettre ranks among the most translated and studied African works of the 20th century, listed among the “100 Best Books of Africa” by Columbia University. Un Chant écarlate, appearing posthumously, confirms a prose that is both poetic and sharp.
Author-women like Fatou Diome, Djaïli Amadou Amal, or Nafissatou Niang Diallo continue the path she traced. A school on Gorée Island bears her name. Her daughter published in 2007 her biography, Mariama Bâ ou les allées d’un destin. More than forty years later, her pen remains a cry never extinguished.
Major Works
| Work | Year | Why it is essential |
|---|---|---|
| Une si longue lettre (epistolary novel) | 1979 | First great feminist novel by a Muslim African author; awarded the Noma Prize, translated into more than 20 languages |
| Un Chant écarlate (novel) | 1981 | Portrait of a mixed marriage that fails under the weight of traditions; published posthumously |
Sources and References
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“Mariama Bâ”, Wikipédia en français, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariama_Bâ, accessed October 18, 2025.
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“Mariama Bâ”, Wikipedia (English), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariama_Bâ, accessed October 18, 2025.
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“Bâ, Mariama (1929–1981)”, Encyclopedia.com (Women in World History), https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ba-mariama-1929-1981, accessed October 18, 2025.
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Alex J. Coyne, “Mariama Bâ, Senegalese Feminist Author and Poet”, Literary Ladies Guide, June 1, 2024 (updated June 1, 2025), https://literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/mariama-ba-senegalese-author, accessed October 18, 2025.
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“Reports”, The African Book Publishing Record, vol. VI, no. 3-4, 1980 — official report of the Noma Prize, https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/abpr.1980.6.3-4.199/html, accessed October 18, 2025.
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“Mariama Bâ – La Langue de Césaire”, Campus Press Yale, https://campuspress.yale.edu/languedecesaire/authors-ecrivain-e-s/mariama-ba/, accessed October 18, 2025.
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“Scarlet Song: Mariama Bâ’s Chant de l’Écarlate,” En attendant Nadeau, May 11, 2022, https://www.en-attendant-nadeau.fr/2022-05-11/roman-chant-mariama-ba, accessed October 18, 2025.
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Editions Catalog, Open Library — Une si longue lettre and Un chant écarlate, accessed October 30, 2026.