B. J. Ndiaye, Curator of Landmark in Slave Trade, Dies at 86
Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye, the veteran curator of Senegal’s historic House of Slaves, whose famous visitors included Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton, died here on Feb. 6. He was 86.
His death after an illness was announced by Hamady Bocoum, director of cultural heritage at Senegal’s Culture Ministry.
For 40 years, Mr. Ndiaye oversaw the memorial on Gorée Island, off the coast of Senegal at Dakar. The island was used to hold captured Africans before their perilous voyage to the Americas. “He was the main architect of the defense of the memory of the Atlantic slave trade, the man most fervent and unrelenting against any revisionism,” Mr. Bocoum said.
Mr. Ndiaye was born on Oct. 15, 1922, in Rufisque, near Dakar, and was among the soldiers from French colonies who fought for France during World War II and the Vietnam War.
After Mr. Ndiaye’s military career ended, he worked in commerce before dedicating his life to the House of Slaves.
He often said he would talk about the history of the slave trade “all my life.”
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His death after an illness was announced by Hamady Bocoum, director of cultural heritage at Senegal’s Culture Ministry.
For 40 years, Mr. Ndiaye oversaw the memorial on Gorée Island, off the coast of Senegal at Dakar. The island was used to hold captured Africans before their perilous voyage to the Americas. “He was the main architect of the defense of the memory of the Atlantic slave trade, the man most fervent and unrelenting against any revisionism,” Mr. Bocoum said.
Mr. Ndiaye was born on Oct. 15, 1922, in Rufisque, near Dakar, and was among the soldiers from French colonies who fought for France during World War II and the Vietnam War.
After Mr. Ndiaye’s military career ended, he worked in commerce before dedicating his life to the House of Slaves.
He often said he would talk about the history of the slave trade “all my life.”