Aden Abdulle Osman Daar آدم عبد الله عثمان دار |
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1st President of Somalia | |
In office July 1, 1960 – June 10, 1967 |
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Prime Minister | Abdirashid Ali Shermarke |
Preceded by | Inaugural |
Succeeded by | Abdirashid Ali Shermarke |
Chairman of the National Legislative Assembly | |
In office 29 February, 1956 – 1 July, 1960 |
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Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Hagi Bashir Ismail |
Personal details | |
Born |
Beledweyne, Hiran, Somalia |
9 December 1908
Died | 8 June 2007 Nairobi, Kenya |
(aged 98)
Nationality | Somali |
Political party | Somali Youth League (SYL) |
Religion | Islam |
Aden Abdulle Osman Daar (Somali: Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan Daar, Arabic: آدم عبد الله عثمان دار) (December 9, 1908 – June 8, 2007), popularly known as Aden Adde, was a Somali politician. He was the first President of Somalia, serving from July 1, 1960 to June 10, 1967.
Daar was born on 9 December 1908 in the town of Beledweyne, situated in the south-central Hiraan region of Somalia.
Daar joined the incipient Somali Youth League (SYL) political party in 1944, a nationalist organization that campaigned for an independent Somalia. Quickly rising through the ranks, he became the local secretary of the SYL's Beledweyne branch in 1946. A decade later, he became Chairman of the National Legislative Assembly, and would eventually lead the SYL itself two years afterwards.
By the time Somalia gained its independence in 1960, Daar had attained widespread prominence as a nationalist figure. In short order, he was elected the country's first President, a position he would assume from 1960 to 1967. Fellow SYL member Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf would serve as the first President of the Somali National Assembly on 1 July 1960.
In the 1967 presidential election, Daar was defeated by Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, his former Prime Minister. His term as president ended on June 10, 1967. Daar accepted the loss graciously, making history as the first head of state in Africa to peacefully hand over power to a democratically elected successor.
Shermarke was assassinated two years later by one of his own bodyguards. The slaying led to an unopposed, bloodless coup d'état by the Somali Army on October 21, 1969, the day after Shermarke's funeral. Spearheading the putsch was Major General Muhammad Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army.