This is a list of European colonial administrators (French: Gouverneur général de l'Afrique occidentale française) responsible for the territory of French West Africa, an area equivalent to modern-day Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo.
List
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
TenurePortrait Incumbent Notes16 June 1895 to 1 November 1900 Jean-Baptiste Chaudié, Governor-General15 July 1897 to 2 October 1897Noël Ballay, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Chaudié28 July 1898 to 13 November 1898Acting for Chaudié1 November 1900 to 26 January 1902Noël Ballay, Governor-General19 April 1901 to 26 October 1901 Victor Lanrezac, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Ballay26 January 1902 to 15 March 1902 Pierre Paul Marie Capest, acting Governor-General15 March 1902 to 15 December 1907Ernest Roume, Governor-General29 June 1902 to 25 October 1902Victor Liotard, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Roume10 June 1903 to 29 October 1903Martial Henri Merlin, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Roume8 July 1904 to 5 October 1904Acting for Roume21 July 1905 to 5 November 1905Acting for Roume18 March 1905 to 22 April 1905 Camille Guy, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Roume15 December 1907 to 9 March 1908Martial Henri Merlin, acting Governor-General1st time9 March 1908 to 26 June 1915William Merlaud-Ponty, Governor-GeneralJanuary 1912 to August 1912François Joseph Clozel, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Ponty14 June 1915 to 3 June 1917François Joseph Clozel, Governor-GeneralActing for Ponty to 26 June 19153 June 1917 to 22 January 1918Joost van Vollenhoven, Governor-General22 January 1918 to 30 July 1919Gabriel Louis Angoulvant, acting Governor-General30 July 1919 to 16 September 1919 Charles Désiré Auguste Brunet, acting Governor-General16 September 1919 to 18 March 1923Martial Henri Merlin, Governor-General2nd time18 March 1923 to 15 October 1930Jules Carde, Governor-General31 May 1924 to 19 October 1924 Auguste Dirat, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Cardé17 April 1926 to 19 November 1926Acting for Cardé23 March 1929 to 30 October 1929Acting for Cardé15 October 1930 to 27 September 1936Joseph Jules Brévié, Governor-General6 April 1933 to 2 December 1933 Albéric Auguste Fournier, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Brévié7 May 1935 to 5 December 1935 Pierre Boisson, acting Governor-GeneralActing for Brévié27 September 1936 to 14 July 1938 Jules Marcel de Coppet, Governor-General14 July 1938 to 28 October 1938Léon Geismar, acting Governor-General28 October 1938 to 10 August 1939 Pierre Boisson, acting Governor-General1st time10 August 1939 to 25 June 1940Léon Henri Charles Cayla, Governor-General25 June 1940 to 13 July 1943 Pierre Boisson, Governor-General2nd time; also named Vichy French High Commissioner for all "French Africa", responsible for the territories that did not rally to the Free French13 July 1943 to 2 April 1946 Pierre Charles Cournarie, Governor-GeneralMay 1946 to 27 January 1948 René Victor Marie Barthes, Governor-General27 January 1948 to 24 May 1951Paul Béchard, Governor-General24 May 1951 to 21 September 1952Paul Louis Gabriel Chauvet, acting Governor-General21 September 1952 to 5 July 1956 Bernard Cornut-Gentille, Governor-General5 July 1956 to 4 April 1957 Gaston Cusin, Governor-General4 April 1957 to July 1958Gaston Cusin, High CommissionerJuly 1958 to 22 December 1958Pierre Messmer, High Commissioner
See also French West Africa Ivory Coast Benin French Dahomey Mali French Sudan Guinea Mauritania Niger Senegal Burkina Faso French Upper Volta Togo French Togoland Lists of office-holders List of French possessions and colonies
External links