Guided tour by the City of Verson and the association Presence Senghor in Verson. The story of Léopold Sédar Senghor with Verson begins with his life with Colette Hubert, his wife, heiress of a bourgeois house, rue du Général Leclerc. In 1957, the couple came to Verson for a holiday. Their habits remained when L.S. Senghor became President of the Republic of Senegal in 1960. The Versonnais take care not to disturb them and on their side the couple knows how to be in contact with them, attests an organized trip to Dakar, where the couple receives Versonnais at the Presidential Palace.
At the age of 74, Léopold Sédar Senghor resigned from the Presidency for the following reasons: In the few years I still have to live, I would like to entrust my dreams to other hands”. From then on he devoted himself entirely to writing. He was elected to the Académie française in 1983. The couple’s life was divided between Paris and Verson.
It is not uncommon for the poet to walk and converse with the Versonnais on their garden. Testimonies confirm the simplicity of man and his knowledge of the earth. The couple is regularly present on the feast of Saint Germain and also in the church, both are practicing Catholics. Their life completely settled in Verson, (certainly for reasons related to the age of the poet-president). In 1993, he laid the foundation stone for Espace Senghor, which he inaugurated in March 1995. He gives a speech in which he defends: It is up to you young people to develop this Civilization of the Universal, which will be made up of the complementary values of all continents and of all peoples. Keep in mind that there is no civilization without culture because cultural effort is itself the main value of civilization.” The following year, on October 9, 1996, the Versonnais celebrated his 90th birthday in his presence during a joyful, simple and musical celebration.
It was in the large white house that the poet’s life ended on December 20, 2001.