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Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré
Sekou Toure usgov-83-08641.jpg
President Ahmed Sékou Touré of the
Republic of Guinea arrives at Andrews
Air Force Base
in Maryland during a visit
to Washington DC. (June 1982)
1st President of Guinea
In office
October 2, 1958 – March 26, 1984
Preceded by None (position first established)
Succeeded by Louis Lansana Beavogui
Personal details
Born (1922-01-09)January 9, 1922
Faranah, Guinea
Died March 26, 1984(1984-03-26) (aged 62)
Cleveland, Ohio,
United States
Nationality Guinean
Political party Democratic Party of Guinea
Religion Islam

Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Ahmed Sheku Turay) (January 9, 1922 – March 26, 1984) was a Guinean political leader; head of the PDG, he was elected as the first President of Guinea, serving from 1958 to he died in 1984. Touré was among the primary Guinean nationalists involved in gaining independence of the country from France.

In 1960, he declared his Parti démocratique de Guinée (PDG) the only legal party in the state, and ruled from then on as a virtual dictator. He was nominally re-elected to numerous seven year terms in the absence of any legal opposition. He imprisoned or exiled his strongest opposition leaders. It is estimated that 50,000 people were killed under his regime.

Sékou Touré was born on January 9, 1922 into a Mandinka family in Faranah, French Guinea, then a colony of France. He was an member of the Mandinka ethnic group. His great-grandfather was Samory Touré, a noted Muslim Mandinka king who founded the Wassoulou Empire (1861-1890) in the territory of Guinea and Mali, defeating numerous small African states with his large, professionally organized and equipped army. He resisted French colonial rule until his capture in 1891. He died while held in exile in Gabon.

Touré worked for the Postal Services (French: Postes, télégraphes et téléphones (PTT)), and quickly became involved in labor union activity. During his youth, Touré studied the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, among others.

Touré first became politically active while working for the PTT. In 1945, he founded the Post and Telecommunications Workers' Union (SPTT, the first trade union in French Guinea), and he became the general secretary of the Union in 1946.


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