Aden Abdullah Osman Daar

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar (born December 9, 1908 in Beledweyne , † June 8, 2007 in Nairobi ), also called Aden Adde , was the first president of Somalia from 1960 to 1967 .

Early years

Osman came from a poor family from the clan of the Hawiye in the town of Beledweyne in the former Italian Somaliland . When he was 14 years old, an Italian took care of him and gave him lessons. In 1929 he was employed by the Italian administration. He worked there until he opened a shop in his hometown in 1941.

Politician

In 1944 he joined the Somali Youth League (SYL) party, which was founded in 1943 after the conquest of Somaliland by Great Britain . In contrast to their leader Haji Mohammed Hussein , he relied on good cooperation with the British and the Italians who returned in 1950 as trustees . In 1951 Osman became a member of the Territorial Council and in 1953 its vice-president. Hussein went to Cairo in 1953 and Osman took over the management of the SYL together with Abdullahi Issa . From 1954 to 1956 he was its president before becoming president of the legislative council after elections in 1956. When Hussein left the SYL in 1958 to found a new party, Osman was again SYL chairman.

president

British Somaliland became independent on June 26, 1960, and the Italian part on July 1, 1960. Osman became the first president of the two-part Republic of Somalia. He was considered a moderate and level-headed politician who, however, under the pressure of a strong nationalist current in the country, had to represent an aggressive foreign policy at least rhetorically.

Since the territorial demands of Somalia ( see Greater Somalia ) were directed against Ethiopia , Kenya and French Somaliland at the same time , the country was quickly isolated in the region. Osman relied on good relations with the Soviet Union and came into conflict with his Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke , whom he fired in 1964. On June 10, 1967 he was replaced as president by Shermarke after losing the presidential election. In accordance with the constitution, he was given a seat in the National Assembly for life. He never left the country until shortly before his death.

He was temporarily imprisoned under the authoritarian government of Siad Barres .

After the fall of the government in 1991, Osman lived on his farm in Jenale , southern Somalia. On May 19, 2007 it was reported that Osman was in critical condition in a coma in Nairobi , where he had gone for medical treatment. He died on June 8, 2007 in hospital. He was buried in Mogadishu, Mogadishu Airport was renamed Aden Adde International Airport in his honor .

Awards

• 1963: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
• 1965: Bavarian Order of Merit

literature

• Ronald Segal: African Profiles , Prestel 1963

swell

• Südwind Magazin: Farewell to the former president
• Los Angeles Times: Aden A. Osman, 99; first president of independent Somalia

1. ↑ https://villasomalia.gov.so/soomaali/madaxtooyada/xafiiska-madaxweynaha/
2. ↑ SomaliNet: Somalia: Former president in coma (correction) ( Memento from May 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ iht.com
4. ↑ RS Schulz: Merits for Bavaria and the Bavarian people.

Web links

Commons : Aden Abdullah Osman Daar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files