Traoré, Kassilé Abdoulaye

Traoré Kassilé was born around 1936 in Kotoura in the province of Kénédougou. His mother’s name was Ndjofon, and his father’s name was Konré. Kassilé was a Sénoufo Tagba, that is, of the Tagba ethnic group, and he spoke Sicité (a dialect of Sénoufo) and Dioula. He understood some French but did not speak it. As he was first a Muslim, he also had a Muslim name, Abdoulaye. He kept this name after his conversion. He had three brothers and two sisters.