Catherine Shan (23 September 1952 in Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle – 11 September 2018) was a writer from France.
The daughter of a French mother and a Senegalese father, she was born Catherine N'Diaye in Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle and grew up in Africa. From 1975 to 1981, she was a philosophy professor in France. From 1982 to 1983, she worked in the office of the director general of UNESCO. Shan then was employed as a journalist, working with the group "Jeune Afrique", for the magazine Géo, for Radio Nederlands and as a freelancer. She also wrote or directed a number of films.[1][2]