b. 29 September 1931
Sources
Biography
Born in Saint-Louis, he was the youngest son of Cerno ʿUthmān Sy ʿIyān. His mother Zaynab Tall was the daughter of Aḥmad al-Kabīr, son and successor of al-ḥājj ʿUmar b. Saʿīd (q.v). He was raised by his maternal uncle Cerno Muntaqā Tall. Trained in Arabic as well as in French, he started his professional career in Chad, teaching French in a primary school from 1957 to 1962. At the same time, he was director of Arabic programmes at the Chadian Nat…