Aden Adde

Aden Abdulle Osman Da’ar (Somali: Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan Dacar, Arabic: آدم عبد الله عثمان دعر) (9 December 1908 – 8 June 2007), popularly known as Aden Adde, was a Somali politician who served as the first president of the Somali Republic from 1 July 1960 to 6 July 1967. After losing the 1967 presidential election to Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, he peacefully relinquished office to his elected successor, becoming the first African leader to voluntarily give up the presidency after losing an election. He had previously served in the Somali Youth League in 1944. In 1946, he was named Secretary of the party's section in Beledweyne, Somali Republic. In 1951, the Mudug Regional Council appointed him for the Regional Council, and two years later, he became Vice President of the Regional Council. From 1954 until 1956, he was the President of the Somali Youth League. He was re-elected in May 1958, and he continued to hold this position simultaneously along with that of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly until 1960. Osman Daar was born in Beledweyne, Somali Republic. He studied at government schools, and worked as a community organizer. Somalia was colonized by the Italian government from 1889 to 1941. From 1929 to 1941, he served in the Italian Colonial Administration advocating for Somalia's independence from colonization. He was a proponent for the unity of all Somalis. In 1960, Osman Daar garnered national attention, and won the favor of the Somali people. He was formally and democratically elected as the first president of the Somali Republic on 1 July 1960, on which date the United Nations recognised Somalia's independence, and subsequently united with the former British protectorate of British Somaliland, which had already obtained its independence on 26 June 1960. His administration was focused on dismantling the legacy of colonialism and...