This is a list of colonial governors of Mauritania. The country of Mauritania had been a colony of France from 1903 to 1960.
List of former colonial heads of Mauritania
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
{| class="wikitable"
! width="25%" align=left|Tenure
! width="30%" align=left|Incumbent
! width="30%" align=left|Notes
|- valign=top
|colspan="3"|French protectorate of Mauritania
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>12 May 1903 to 18 October 1904</small>||Xavier Coppolani, <small>Commandant</small>||
|- valign=top
|French civil territory of Mauritania||colspan="2"|Incorporated into French West Africa
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>18 October 1904 November 1904</small>||Xavier Coppolani, <small>Commandant</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>November 1904 to 12 May 1905</small>||Xavier Coppolani, <small>Commissioner</small>||He was killed in Tidjikja.
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>12 May 1905 to 27 May 1905</small>||Louis Frèrejean, <small>acting Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>27 May 1905 to November 1907</small>||Bernard Laurent Montané-Capdebosq, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>November 1907 to 1909</small>||Henri Joseph Eugène Gouraud, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1909 to 1909</small>||Claudel, <small>acting Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1909 to 1909</small>||Aubert, <small>acting Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1 January 1910 to 1 March 1912</small>||Henri Hippolyte Patey, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1 March 1912 to April 1914</small>||Charles Paul Isidore Mouret, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>April 1914 to 17 November 1916</small>||Louis Jules Albert Obissier, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>17 November 1916 to 11 December 1920</small>||Nicolas Jules Henri Gaden, <small>Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>11 December 1920 to 9 November 1926</small>||Nicolas Jules Henri Gaden, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>9 November 1926 to 13 January 1928</small>||Albéric Auguste Fournier, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>13 January 1928 to 21 November 1929</small>||Alphonse Paul Albert Choteau, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>21 November 1929 to 19 June 1931</small>||René Héctor Émile Chazal, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>19 June 1931 to 22 June 1933</small>||Gabriel Omer Descemet, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>1st Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>22 June 1933 to 7 April 1934</small>||Louis François Antonin, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>7 April 1934 to 5 July 1934</small>||Gabriel Omer Descemet, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>2nd Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>5 July 1934 to August 1934</small>||Adolphe Deitte, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>August 1934 to 1 November 1934</small>||Jean-Baptiste Victor Chazelas, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor </small>||<small>1st Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1 November 1934 to 15 April 1935</small>||Richard Edmond Maurice Édouard Brunot, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>15 April 1935 to 10 November 1935</small>||Jean-Baptiste Victor Chazelas, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>2nd Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>10 November 1935 to 1 September 1936</small>||Jules Marcel de Coppet, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1 September 1936 to 24 October 1936</small>||Jean Louis Beyries, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>1st Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>24 October 1936 to 7 August 1938</small>||Oswald Durand, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>7 August 1938 to November 1938</small>||Charles André Dumas, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>November 1938 to 28 August 1941</small>||Jean Louis Beyries, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>1st Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>28 August 1941 to 4 May 1944</small>||Jean Louis Beyries, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>2nd Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>28 August 1941 to 4 May 1944</small>||Jean Louis Beyries, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>2nd Term; Jean Chalvet acting governor from April 1942</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>4 May 1944 to 31 July 1945</small>||Christian-Robert-Roger Laigret, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>31 July 1945 to 30 April 1946</small>||René Babin, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>30 April 1946 to 27 October 1946</small>||Georges Poirier, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top
|colspan="3"|Mauritania Overseas Territory of France
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>27 October 1946 to 19 July 1947</small>||Georges Poirier, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>19 July 1947 to 31 December 1947</small>||Lucien Eugène Geay, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>31 December 1947 to 7 August 1949</small>||Henry Jean Marie de Mauduit, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>7 August 1949 to 27 September 1950</small>||Édouard Louis Terrac, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>27 September 1950 to 25 April 1952</small>||Jacques Camille Marie Rogué, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>25 April 1952 to 23 February 1953</small>||Pierre Messmer, <small>acting Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>23 February 1953 to 6 April 1954</small>||Pierre Messmer, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>6 April 1954 to 23 June 1955</small>||Albert Jean Mouragues, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>1st Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>23 June 1955 to 14 May 1956</small>||Jean Paul Parisot, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>14 May 1956 to 5 October 1958</small>||Albert Jean Mouragues, <small>Lieutenant Governor</small>||<small>2nd Term</small>
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>5 October 1958 to February 1959</small>||Henri Joseph Marie Bernard, <small>High Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>February 1959 to 28 November 1960</small>||Amédée Joseph Émile Jean Pierre Anthonioz, <small>High Commissioner</small>||
|- valign=top
|28 November 1960||colspan="2"|Independence as the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
|}
For continuation after Independence, see: Heads of state of Mauritania.
See also
- Mauritania
- Heads of state of Mauritania
- Heads of government of Mauritania
- Lists of office-holders