Professor Diamé Signaté, linguistics expert, dies in Dakar

Professor Diamé Signaté, a prominent specialist in 16th and 17th-century historical linguistics, passed away in Dakar on Monday, October 12, 2026.

Signaté dedicated his career from 1981 to his retirement in 2013 to the Department of Modern Letters at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD). A scholar who defended two theses at the Sorbonne during the 1980s and 1990s, he was recognized for his expertise in the history of the French language and his contributions to academic research and teaching.

Colleagues, including Professor Fallou Ndiaye, praised his pedagogical rigor and his role in developing research teams at both UCAD and Gaston Berger University (UGB). Beyond his academic achievements, Signaté was also an active figure in Senegalese politics, having been involved with the Socialist Party (PS) and the Union Progressiste Sénégalaise (UPS).