École normale supérieure William Ponty

[2] Many of the school's graduates would one day lead the struggle for independence from France, including Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Bernard Binlin Dadié of Côte d'Ivoire, Modibo Keïta of Mali, Hamani Diori and Boubou Hama of Niger, Yacine Diallo of Guinea,[citation needed] Hubert Maga of Benin (Dahomey), Mamadou Dia of Senegal and Maurice Yaméogo and Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly of Burkina Faso (Upper Volta).

Other students included internationally known jurists Kéba Mbaye and Ousmane Goundiam and Guinean politician Diallo Telli, who was a founder of the Organisation of African Unity.

[3] Begun by Governor General Jean-Baptiste Chaudié[3] of the French colonial government at Saint-Louis, Senegal on 24 November 1903, the school was moved to the Island of Gorée in 1913.

From 1913 to 1938 the school occupied a building on Gorée originally built before 1800 for the pirate slave traders Jean and Pierre Lafitte.

During the government of Senegalese Prime Minister Léopold Senghor, repairs to the building at Sébikotane were neglected, and its occupation by squatters was tolerated.