Seydou Badian Kouyaté
Seydou Badian Kouyaté (April 10, 1928 – December 28, 2018) was a Malian writer and politician. He was born in Bamako when Mali was part of French Sudan and studied medicine at the University of Montpellier in France before returning home. He wrote the lyrics to Mali’s national anthem, “Le Mali,” during the presidency of Modibo Keïta.
In 1962, he was named Minister of Economic and Financial Coordination. After the 1968 coup and the rise of Moussa Traoré, he was deported to Kidal and later exiled to Dakar, Senegal. He started his political career with the Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally but was removed from the party in 1998 for opposing part of its plan to deny recognition to some institutions in contested elections.
As a writer, Kouyaté published his first novel, Sous l’orage, in 1957, before Mali’s independence. He also wrote Le Sang des masques (1976), Noces sacrées (1977), and La Saison des pièges (2007). In March 2018, he received the Grand Prix des Mécènes of the GPLA for his long literary career. He died in Bamako at the age of 90.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:10 (CET).