Luc André Diouf
Luc André Diouf Dioh (born 18 January 1965) is a Spanish politician as well as a trade unionist and syndicalist. He is known in the Spanish media for being the first politician of African descent elected from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party,[1] as well as for being homeless in the past and having to sleep on the beach of the Canary Islands for over a month.[2]
Luc André Diouf MP | |
|---|---|
 Diouf in August 2019 | |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| Assumed office 17 May 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luc André Diouf Dioh 18 January 1965 Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal |
| Political party | PSOE (2017–) |
Personal life
Diouf was born in Joal-Fadiouth, an island off the coast of Senegal. He is one of 10 siblings,[3] with eight brothers and one sister, and grew up in an agricultural environment.[4] Unlike most of Senegal, Diouf was raised Roman Catholic and most of his community was Christian.[4]
Diouf attended the Cheikh Anta Diop University in the Senegalese capital of Dakar where he studied economics.[5] After leaving the university, Diouf traveled to Lyon, then Utrecht, and then Cincinnati in search of work.[3] In 1992 he emigrated to Gran Canaria because he had family members living there.[1] He quickly ran out of money though and for 42 days Diouf was homeless and had to sleep on the beach.[4] Eventually Diouf contracted pneumonia and had to be taken to a hospital in Las Palmas, where one of the nurses put him in contact with social workers.[3] He would later get a job at a hotel in Jandía on the island of Fuerteventura and would also find work as a computer technician.[3] Diof is a polyglot who speaks several languages: Wolof, Serer, French, and Spanish. He learned German while interacting with tourists at his hotel job.[4]
In 1996 Diouf joined the Workers' Commissions, or CCOO,[3] where he worked as an advisory technician, as coordinator in the union's immigrant information centers, and as the secretary of immigration for the union's division in the Canary Islands.[1] In 2001 Diouf acquired Spanish citizenship.[5]
Political career
Having participated in politics for a significant amount of time, in 2017 Diouf officially joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. In June 2017 he was appointed to the Federal Executive Commission of the party.[6] He was on the party's second ballot list in the April 2019 Spanish general election,[7] where he was elected to the 13th Congress of Deputies.[2] Together with Ignacio Garriga, Diouf is only the second individual of sub-Saharan African descent elected to congress after Rita Bosaho.[2]
References
- Gonzalez, David (29 March 2019). "Luc André Diouf, el diputado que durmió en la calle y temió que lo deportaran a Senegal" (in Spanish). Público. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- Marcos, José (30 May 2019). "From homeless to Congress: Meet the Spanish deputy who used to sleep on the street". El País. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- Jurado, Ángeles (22 July 2013). "Luc André Diouf. Las caras de la diáspora" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- Elejabeitia, Guillermo (26 May 2016). "El 'ministro' que dormía al raso" (in Spanish). La Verdad. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- Romero, Juanma (4 June 2016). "Luc André Diouf: "No podemos prometer papeles para todos, porque no es posible"" (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- "Héctor Gómez y Luc André Diouf, en la nueva Comisión Ejecutiva Federal del PSOE". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 18 June 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- "Candidaturas proclamadas para las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado, convocadas por Real Decreto 129/2019, de 4 de marzo" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 December 2019.