Passion or Profession: Resistance Leader

Period: c. 1830–1900

Touré was a Malinké warrior who placed himself at the head of a chieftaincy in Guinea's Kankan region in 1868. He soon defeated rival chieftaincies, established a well-ordered empire, and spread Islam. As the French attempted to exert control over the region, Touré led his fighters against French troops throughout the 1880s. Touré was captured in 1898 and exiled. The French were firmly established within six years.