Boilat, David, abbé (1814-1901). Senegalese writer. Born of a French father and half-caste mother, he was educated in a French seminary, and returned to Senegal in 1842 as missionary and educator. Appointed director of education by Baron Roger, he founded the first secondary school in the colony. He wrote an important ethnological study, Esquisses sénégalaises (Physionomie du pays—peuplades—commerce—religions—passé et avenir—récits et légendes) (1853), with 24 illustrations by the author of types and costumes of different native peoples. His Wolof Grammar (1856) was awarded a prize (founded by Volney) for linguistics.
[Dorothy Blair]
