(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Tenure | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| French protectorate of Mauritania | ||
| Xavier Coppolani, | ||
| French civil territory of Mauritania | Incorporated into French West Africa | |
| Xavier Coppolani, | ||
| Xavier Coppolani, | ||
| Louis Frèrejean, | ||
| Bernard Laurent Montané-Capdebosq, | ||
| Henri Joseph Eugène Gouraud, | ||
| Claudel, | ||
| Aubert, | ||
| Henri Hippolyte Patey, | ||
| Charles Paul Isidore Mouret, | ||
| Louis Jules Albert Obissier, | ||
| Nicolas Jules Henri Gaden, | ||
| Nicolas Jules Henri Gaden, | ||
| Albéric Auguste Fournier, | ||
| Alphonse Paul Albert Choteau, | ||
| René Héctor Émile Chazal, | ||
| Gabriel Omer Descemet, | ||
| Louis François Antonin, | ||
| Gabriel Omer Descemet, | ||
| Jean-Baptiste Victor Chazelas, | ||
| Richard Edmond Maurice Édouard Brunot, | ||
| Jean-Baptiste Victor Chazelas, | ||
| Jules Marcel de Coppet, | ||
| Jean Louis Beyries, | ||
| Oswald Durand, | ||
| Charles André Dumas, | ||
| Jean Louis Beyries, | ||
| Jean Louis Beyries, | ||
| Christian-Robert-Roger Laigret, | ||
| René Babin, | ||
| Georges Poirier, | ||
| Mauritania Overseas Territory of France | ||
| Georges Poirier, | ||
| Lucien Eugène Geay, | ||
| Henry Jean Marie de Mauduit, | ||
| Édouard Louis Terrac, | ||
| Jacques Camille Marie Rogué, | ||
| Pierre Messmer, | ||
| Pierre Messmer, | ||
| Albert Jean Mouragues, | ||
| Jean Paul Parisot, | ||
| Albert Jean Mouragues, | ||
| Henri Joseph Marie Bernard, | ||
| Amédée Joseph Émile Jean Pierre Anthonioz, | ||
| 28 November 1960 | Independence as Islamic Republic of Mauritania | |
For continuation after independence, see: Heads of state of Mauritania
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, colonial and/or governors:
“My list of things I never pictured myself saying when I pictured myself as a parent has grown over the years.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)
“Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
—Janet Frame (b. 1924)
“In colonial America, the father was the primary parent. . . . Over the past two hundred years, each generation of fathers has had less authority than the last. . . . Masculinity ceased to be defined in terms of domestic involvement, skills at fathering and husbanding, but began to be defined in terms of making money. Men had to leave home to work. They stopped doing all the things they used to do.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“I do love this people [the French] with all my heart, and think that with a better religion and a better form of government and their present governors their condition and country would be most enviable.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)