Gabriel Ramanantsoa (13 April 1906

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

– 9 May 1979

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) was the President and Prime Minister of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

from 1972 to 1975. Ramanantsoa was a member of the

Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, or Hova) are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.Merina ...

ethnic group, and came from a wealthy family. He graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1931. He was a career officer in the French army. After Madagascar became independent, he joined the Madagascar military, rising to the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

. In May 1972, amidst massive political protests, he became prime minister of the country with tacit French backing, and President

Philibert Tsiranana Philibert Tsiranana (18 October 1912 – 16 April 1978) was a Malagasy politician and leader, who served as the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972. During the twelve years of his administration, the Republic of Madagascar expe ...

vested him with full executive powers. Tsiranana resigned altogether on October 11, 1972 following a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

that approved a five-year transition period under military leadership, and Ramanantsoa became president as well. He tried to start political reconciliation. His popularity faded due to rumors of corruption involving him and his wife, and government was nearly overthrown in December 1974 by an anti-Merina coup led by Bréchard Rajaonarison. He lost the backing of Richard Ratsimandrava and

Didier Ratsiraka Didier Ignace Ratsiraka (; 4 November 1936 – 28 March 2021) was a Malagasy politician and naval officer who was President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving President o ...

and on February 5, 1975 he was forced to resign amidst ethnic and social class tensions. His nephew, Bernard Ramanantsoa, served as dean of the French business school HEC Paris from 1996 to 2015.

References

1906 births 1978 deaths Presidents of Madagascar People from Antananarivo Merina people Prime Ministers of Madagascar {{Madagascar-politician-stub