Albert Sylla (18 February 1909 – 19 July 1967) was a Malagasy medical doctor and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

Sylla was born to an unknown

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

father and a Creole mother, Louisa Sylla, on 18 February 1909 in

Tuléar Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in southern Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of the national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name ...

. As a child he was educated in

nous ''Nous'' (, ), from , is a concept from classical philosophy, sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, for the cognitive skill, faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is truth, true or reality, real. Alternative Eng ...

Catholic mission Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

s, attending the

Brothers of Saint Gabriel The Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel (SG), otherwise Gabrielite Brothers or Frères de Saint-Gabriel (FSG), is a religious institute. Its roots go back to Louis de Montfort, who opened a few schools for poor children in La Rochelle, France, in ...

Nosy Be Nosy Be (; formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be, ) is a volcanic island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist destination. It has an area of , and its population was 109,465 according to the provisio ...

, and later the College of the

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

Christian Brothers in

Tamatave Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave or in the past as Port aux prunes, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the ...

. After being admitted to the Myre de Vilers school, he began studies at the School of Medicine in Antananarivo in 1926, where he gained the rank of Senior Medical Officer; the highest degree attainable by local officials.

Personal life

In 1932 in

he married Laguet, a lady of European and

Réunion Creole Réunion Creole, or Reunionese Creole (; ), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken on Réunion. It is derived mainly from French language, French and includes terms from Malagasy language, Malagasy, Hindi, Port ...

heritage, and they had six children. The family lived in

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

Tananarive Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; 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 ...

, Mananara,

Île Sainte-Marie Nosy Boraha , also known as Sainte-Marie, main town Ambodifotatra, is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The island forms an administrative district within Analanjirofo Region, and covers an area of 222 km2. It has a population e ...

and lastly Tamatave, where he was posted in September 1946, after the birth of his son

Jacques Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

. Sylla helped form

Parti des déshérités de Madagascar Parti may refer to: *Parti (service), an online video platform, web hosting, livestreaming, and cloud services business. *Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name * ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts b ...

(PADESM), and he entered politics when he was elected as a provincial councillor on 30 March 1952. In the same year he became Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Tourism. His son,

Jacques Sylla Jacques Hugues Sylla (22 July 1946 – 26 December 2009) was a Malagasy politician. He was the Prime Minister of Madagascar under President Marc Ravalomanana from February 2002 to January 2007. He subsequently served as the President of the ...

, served as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2007.

Career

In 1953 he was elected as a councillor to the Assembly of the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was ''de jure'' the end of the "indigenous" () status of Frenc ...

, and he ran on the list of "Entente franco-malgache dan l'Union francaise". On 28 August 1956, whilst attending a reunion in Tamatave, he became president of the local chapter of the UDSM, which had been formed by Norbert Zafimahova. In 1958 he became a member of the

National Assembly of Madagascar The National Assembly (; ) is the lower house of the Parliament of Madagascar. The Assembly has 163 members, elected for five-year terms in single-member and two-member constituencies. The Parliament of Madagascar has two chambers. The other ...

. During this time he travelled extensively, and made unofficial visits to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, amongst others. After Madagascar gained independence from France on 26 June 1960, Sylla was appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Philibert Tsiranana Philibert Tsiranana (18 October 1912 – 16 April 1978) 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. Duri ...

to the position of

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, and chaired Madagascar's delegation at meetings of the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

Death

On 19 July 1967, an

Air Madagascar Madagascar Airlines is an airline based in Antananarivo, Madagascar.RE ...

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

, on a scheduled flight from

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; 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 ...

to Tamatave and Diego Suarez, crashed after take-off from

Ivato International Airport Ivato International Airport is the main international airport serving Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, located northwest of the city centre. Ivato Airport is the main hub for Madagascar Airlines and is located in the commune of Ivato ...

, killing 42 people, including Sylla. The Madagascar Cabinet held an emergency meeting after the crash, and it was announced that Sylla would be given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

. Sylla was succeeded as foreign minister by

Jacques Rabemananjara Jacques Rabemananjara (23 June 1913 – 2 April 2005) was a Madagascar, Malagasy politician, playwright and poet. He served as a government minister, rising to Vice President of Madagascar. Rabemananjara was said to be the most prolific write ...

on 22 August 1967 after President Tsiranana reshuffled his cabinet as a result of Sylla's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Albert 1909 births 1967 deaths Ministers of foreign affairs of Madagascar Malagasy people of French descent Members of the National Assembly (Madagascar) People from Toliara Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Madagascar Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1967