Solomana Kante

Solomana Kanté (also written as Sùlemáana Kántε,^[1] Souleymane Kanté or Sulemaana Kantè; N'Ko: ߛߎ߬ߟߋ߬ߡߊ߬ߣߊ߬ ߞߊ߲ߕߍ߫, 1922 – November 23, 1987) was a Guinean writer, neographer, and educator,^[2] best known as the inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Manding language varieties of Africa.

Solomana Kante (left) and Baba Mamadi Diane (right)

Map of the life of Sulemaana Kante, inventor of the N'ko alphabet

Grave of Solomana Kanté

Kanté created N'Ko, a modern script for, as he saw it,^[3] the Manding language in 1949 after five years of experimentation with various writing systems.^[1] The script first came into use in Kankan, Guinea and was disseminated from there into other Manding-speaking parts of West Africa.