Aline Sitoe (c. 1920–1944)
Aline Sitoe (c. 1920–1944)
Queen of Diola Tribe, Casamance, who rebelled against the French. Born around 1920 in Kabrousse, West Africa (a section of modern-day Senegal); died of scurvy on May 22, 1944; reigned from around 1936 to 1943.
Early in 1942, when Aline Sitoe incited her people to rebel against their French rulers with the declaration, "The white man is not invincible," her challenge was heard as far away as Mauritania and Mali. She fomented a boycott of French goods, discouraged use of the French language, and encouraged her people to revive their own culture. When Diola warriors ambushed a truck and killed three French soldiers, the French held Kabrousse under siege for 16 days in January of 1943. Finally, the queen surrendered to avoid watching the town destroyed by fire. Taken into custody, she was condemned to a ten-year exile in Timbuktu. The following year, she died of scurvy and was buried in Timbuktu's Sidi el Wafi Cemetery. Nineteen years after her death, her nation ceased being a French protectorate. In 1983, plans were made to return her remains to Senegal.