1. Abderrahmane Youssoufi was the Secretary General of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces.
18 Facts About Abderrahmane Youssoufi
1. 2.
In 1949 Abderrahmane Youssoufi began to fight for the rights of immigrant Moroccan workers in France.
3.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi studied law, practicing in Tangier from 1952 to 1960.
4.
The Abderrahmane Youssoufi family were of Berbers origin, and the future prime minister spoke only Tamazight and French until he began school, where he learned standard Arabic and Darija.
5.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi became a member of the Al Istiqlal Party and, at only 19 years old, threw himself into the fight for a free Morocco.
6.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi was nicknamed Lenin by the Moroccan police for his excessive Nationalism.
7.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi was arrested Twice, once imprisoned for his political dissidence, he was one of the most important figures in Morocco's political scene.
8.
In 1959, Abderrahmane Youssoufi was one of the founders of the National Union of Popular Forces, a left-wing political party.
9.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi was arrested for his involvement in 1959 and again in 1963, the latter arrest leading to a prison sentence of two years.
10.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Popular Forces became the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and Abderrahmane Youssoufi was appointed its permanent delegate outside the country, and later, in 1978, a member of its political bureau.
11.
In 1980 Abderrahmane Youssoufi returned to join the new party, becoming the party secretary in 1992 after the death of Abderrahim Bouabid.
12.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi formed a left-center government which would provide greater freedoms for the people and media.
13.
On 28 October 2003, Abderrahmane Youssoufi resigned from his post as First Secretary of the USFP.
14.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi began to live in Casablanca after his retirement.
15.
On 15 October 2016, Abderrahmane Youssoufi was hospitalized for pneumonia and King Mohammed VI visited him in the hospital.
16.
Abderrahmane Youssoufi died on 29 May 2020, at the age of 96 due to lung cancer.
17.
In 1991, Abderrahmane Youssoufi was one of the two winners of the North-South Prize.
18.
In 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco honored Abderrahmane Youssoufi by naming an avenue in Tangier after him.