Photo katoucha niane biography

Guinean model, activist and author

Katoucha Niane (23 October 1960 – 2 February 2008) was a Guineanmodel, activist and author.

Nicknamed "The Peul Princess" (in reference to her ethnic Fula background), she worked, and later wrote, under the single name "Katoucha". She was known as the muse of Yves Saint Laurent during the 1980s.

Early life and career

When she was a child, Katoucha and her family was forced into exile after her father, the author, playwright and historianDjibril Tamsir Niane, came into conflict with Guinean President, Sekou Toure.

Living with an uncle in Mali, she rejoined her family in Dakar at the age of 12. There she lived with the family of her paternal uncle, whose wife was private secretary to the President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor.^[1] After marrying her husba