Hassan Gouled Aptidon

Who is Hassan Gouled Aptidon?

Hassan Gouled Aptidon was a Djiboutian statesman who served as the first President of the Republic of Djibouti from 1977 until 1999. Born on 15 October 1916 in the village of Gerisa, then part of British Somaliland, he belonged to the Mamassan sub-lineage of the Issa clan. He began his working life as a nurse before turning to politics, and in 1946 he co-founded the Somali and Dankali Youth Club alongside fellow nationalist Mahmoud Harbi. He was elected to the French Senate in 1952 and later served in the French National Assembly, as well as holding ministerial posts within the territorial government of French Somaliland, including education minister. In 1975 he founded and led the African People's League for Independence (LPAI), the movement that steered the territory to full independence from France in 1977. As president, he led Djibouti through its first decades of statehood, formally establishing a one-party state in 1981 under his Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès party. During the 1990s, amid internal conflict, he gradually ceded authority to his nephew, Ismail Omar Guelleh, and announced his retirement in February 1999. He died at his home on 21 November 2006, aged 90.

Sources: Hassan Gouled Aptidon — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Gouled_Aptidon) · BlackPast.org, "Hassan Gouled Aptidon (1916-2006)" · Library of Congress, "Message a la nation du president Hassan Gouled Aptidon a l'occasion du 8 mai 1977"