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.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
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16 June 1895 to 1 November 1900 |
Jean-Baptiste Chaudié, Governor-General |
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15 July 1897 to 2 October 1897 |
Noël Ballay, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Chaudié | |
28 July 1898 to 13 November 1898 | Acting for Chaudié | ||
1 November 1900 to 26 January 1902 |
Noël Ballay, Governor-General |
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19 April 1901 to 26 October 1901 |
Victor Lanrezac, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Ballay | |
26 January 1902 to 15 March 1902 |
Pierre Paul Marie Capest, acting Governor-General |
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15 March 1902 to 15 December 1907 |
Ernest Roume, Governor-General |
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29 June 1902 to 25 October 1902 |
Victor Liotard, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Roume | |
10 June 1903 to 29 October 1903 |
Martial Henri Merlin, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Roume | |
8 July 1904 to 5 October 1904 | Acting for Roume | ||
21 July 1905 to 5 November 1905 | Acting for Roume | ||
18 March 1905 to 22 April 1905 |
Camille Guy, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Roume | |
15 December 1907 to 9 March 1908 |
Martial Henri Merlin, acting Governor-General |
1st time | |
9 March 1908 to 26 June 1915 |
William Merlaud-Ponty, Governor-General |
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January 1912 to August 1912 |
François Joseph Clozel, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Ponty | |
14 June 1915 to 3 June 1917 |
François Joseph Clozel, Governor-General |
Acting for Ponty to 26 June 1915 | |
3 June 1917 to 22 January 1918 |
Joost van Vollenhoven, Governor-General |
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22 January 1918 to 30 July 1919 |
Gabriel Louis Angoulvant, acting Governor-General |
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30 July 1919 to 16 September 1919 |
Charles Désiré Auguste Brunet, acting Governor-General |
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16 September 1919 to 18 March 1923 |
Martial Henri Merlin, Governor-General |
2nd time | |
18 March 1923 to 15 October 1930 |
Jules Carde, Governor-General |
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31 May 1924 to 19 October 1924 |
Auguste Dirat, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Cardé | |
17 April 1926 to 19 November 1926 | Acting for Cardé | ||
23 March 1929 to 30 October 1929 | Acting for Cardé | ||
15 October 1930 to 27 September 1936 |
Joseph Jules Brévié, Governor-General |
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6 April 1933 to 2 December 1933 |
Albéric Auguste Fournier, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Brévié | |
7 May 1935 to 5 December 1935 |
Pierre Boisson, acting Governor-General |
Acting for Brévié | |
27 September 1936 to 14 July 1938 |
Jules Marcel de Coppet, Governor-General |
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14 July 1938 to 28 October 1938 |
Léon Geismar, acting Governor-General |
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28 October 1938 to 10 August 1939 |
Pierre Boisson, acting Governor-General |
1st time | |
10 August 1939 to 25 June 1940 |
Léon Henri Charles Cayla, Governor-General |
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25 June 1940 to 13 July 1943 |
Pierre Boisson, Governor-General |
2nd time; also named Vichy French High Commissioner for all "French Africa", responsible for the territories that did not rally to the Free French | |
13 July 1943 to 2 April 1946 |
Pierre Charles Cournarie, Governor-General |
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May 1946 to 27 January 1948 |
René Victor Marie Barthès, Governor-General |
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27 January 1948 to 24 May 1951 |
Paul Béchard, Governor-General |
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24 May 1951 to 21 September 1952 |
Paul Louis Gabriel Chauvet, acting Governor-General |
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21 September 1952 to 5 July 1956 |
Bernard Cornut-Gentille, Governor-General |
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5 July 1956 to 4 April 1957 |
Gaston Custin, Governor-General |
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4 April 1957 to July 1958 |
Gaston Custin, High Commissioner |
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July 1958 to 22 December 1958 |
Pierre Messmer, High Commissioner |