57 Facts About Philibert Tsiranana

Philibert Tsiranana was a Malagasy politician and leader who served as the seventh prime minister of Madagascar from 1958 to 1959, and then later the first president of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972.

The "benevolent schoolmaster" public image that Philibert Tsiranana cultivated went alongside a firmness of convictions and actions that some believe tended toward authoritarianism.

In 1943, Philibert Tsiranana joined the professional teachers' union and in 1944 entered the General Confederation of Labor.

Philibert Tsiranana joined the Group of Student Communists of Madagascar in January 1946, on the advice of his mentor Paul Ralaivoavy.

In July 1946, Philibert Tsiranana refused the post of secretary general of PADESM on account of his impending departure for the Ecole normale de Montpellier.

Philibert Tsiranana had become known for his contributions to PADESM's journal Voromahery, authored under the pseudonym "Tsimihety".

Philibert Tsiranana found that only 17 of the 198 Malagasy students in France were coastal people.

On his return to Madagascar in 1950, Philibert Tsiranana was appointed professor of technical education at the Ecole industrielle in Tananarive in the highlands.

Philibert Tsiranana considered the directorial committee very disloyal to the administration.

On 30 March 1952, Philibert Tsiranana was elected provincial counsellor for the 3rd district of Majunga on the "Social Progress" list.

Philibert Tsiranana combined this role with that of Counsellor on the Representative Assembly of Madagascar.

Since two of these seats were reserved for French citizens, Philibert Tsiranana was only allowed to stand for one of the three seats reserved for native people.

Philibert Tsiranana was beaten by Pierre Ramampy, Norbert Zafimahova, and Ralijaona Laingo.

Philibert Tsiranana hoped to establish a national profile for himself and transcend the coastal and regional character of PADESM, especially since he no longer supported Madagascar simply being a free state of the French Union, but sought full independence from France.

In 1955, while visiting France on administrative live, Philibert Tsiranana joined the French Section of the Workers' International, in advance of the January 1956 elections for seats in the French National Assembly.

Thanks to this support and the following which he had built up over the previous five years, Philibert Tsiranana was elected as deputy for the western region, with 253,094 of the 330,915 votes.

Philibert Tsiranana increasingly made himself the leader of the coastal people.

Philibert Tsiranana's PSD had only nine seats in the representative assembly.

Philibert Tsiranana succeeded in getting his closest supporter, Andre Resampa, appointed as minister of education.

Naturally, Philibert Tsiranana actively campaigned, along with the Union of Social Democrats of Madagascar led by senator Norbert Zafimahova, for the "yes" vote in the referendum on whether Madagascar should join the French Community, which was held on 28 September 1958.

On 14 October 1958, during a meeting of the provincial counsellors, Philibert Tsiranana proclaimed the autonomous Malagasy Republic, of which he became the provisional prime minister.

Philibert Tsiranana rapidly instituted state infrastructure in the provinces which enabled him to contain AKFM.

On 24 July 1959, Charles de Gaulle appointed four responsible African politicians, of whom Philibert Tsiranana was one, to the position of "Minister-Counsellor" of the French government for the affairs of the French Community.

Philibert Tsiranana used his new powers to call for national sovereignty for Madagascar; de Gaulle accepted this.

Philibert Tsiranana insisted that all Malagasy organisations should be represented in this delegation, except for AKFM.

Philibert Tsiranana sought to establish national unity through a policy of stability and moderation.

Philibert Tsiranana presented himself as the protector of these parties and refused to join the "fashion" for single party states:.

In February 1965, Philibert Tsiranana decided to end his seven-year term a year early and called a presidential election for 30 March 1965.

Philibert Tsiranana's campaign ranged across the whole island, while those of his opponents were limited to local contexts by lack of money.

The "Malagasy Socialism" which President Philibert Tsiranana concocted was intended to resolve the problems of development by providing economic and social solutions adapted to the country; he considered it pragmatic and humanitarian.

The economic policy instituted by Philibert Tsiranana's administration incorporated a neo-liberal ethos, combining encouragement of private initiative and state intervention.

Philibert Tsiranana's government encouraged the development of cooperatives and other means of voluntary participation.

Under Philibert Tsiranana there were only three railway routes: Tananarive-Tamatave, Tananarive-Antsirabe, and Fianarantsoa-Manakara.

Philibert Tsiranana assured those French people living on the island that they formed Madagascar's 19th tribe.

Philibert Tsiranana was surrounded by an entourage of French technical advisors, the "vazahas", of whom the most important were:.

Beyond this strong financial dependency, Philibert Tsiranana's Madagascar seemed to preserve the preponderant French role in the economy.

Philibert Tsiranana advocated moderation and realism in international organs like the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity, and the African and Malagasy Union.

Philibert Tsiranana was opposed to the Panafricanist ideas proposed by Kwame Nkrumah.

Philibert Tsiranana did not hesitate to boycott the third conference of the OAU held at Accra in October 1965 by the radical President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.

Subsequently, Philibert Tsiranana frequently visited Paris for examinations and the French Riviera for rest.

Philibert Tsiranana had a paper before his eyes and could not read it.

Philibert Tsiranana did not seem on top of his business at all and he spoke to me only about minor details, minor things and not general policy.

Nevertheless, Philibert Tsiranana travelled to Yaounde to participate in an OCAM meeting.

The competition for the succession to Philibert Tsiranana began in 1964.

Philibert Tsiranana did nothing to defend Rabemananjara's honour, who exchanged the Economy portfolio for agriculture on 31 August 1965 and then took the foreign affairs portfolio in July 1967.

Paradoxically, on 14 February 1967, Philibert Tsiranana encouraged government officials and members of parliamenta to participate in the effort to industrialise the country, by participating in business enterprises which had become established in the provinces.

Resampa lost the ministry of the interior, which Philibert Tsiranana took over personal control of, and Tsiebo became the First Vice-President.

Philibert Tsiranana has liquidated his Minister of the Interior and dismissed the colleagues of the latter who understand the issues.

Philibert Tsiranana was accused of conspiring with the American government and was placed under house arrest on the small island of Sainte-Marie.

Some years later, Philibert Tsiranana confessed that this conspiracy was fabricated.

Philibert Tsiranana criticised the behaviour of some hard-line officials who had exploited the poor; he condemned the officials who had abused and extorted money and cattle from people returning to their villages after the insurrection.

The next day, Philibert Tsiranana ordered the closure of the university, saying:.

Philibert Tsiranana had been at a thermal health spa in Ranomafana near Fiarnarantsoa.

Philibert Tsiranana vested Ramanantsoa with full presidential powers as well.

Philibert Tsiranana was still nominally president, and viewed his grant of full powers to Ramanantsoa as a temporary measure.

Philibert Tsiranana's presence was politically unhelpful and cumbersome to others.

Philibert Tsiranana travelled to France for a time to visit his family there and to consult with his doctors.