Malidoma Patrice Somé

Malidoma Patrice Somé (1956–2021) was a West African author, teacher, and initiated elder of the Dagara people of Burkina Faso. Kidnapped at age four by Jesuit missionaries and raised in a French colonial boarding school, he later escaped and returned to his village to undergo traditional initiation. He became a significant bridge between indigenous African spiritual knowledge and the modern West, holding multiple advanced degrees, including doctorates from the Sorbonne and Brandeis University. He spent his later years conducting workshops and writing on Dagara cosmology, ritual, and the importance of community and ancestral connection.