Léon Réne Sultan (; September 13, 1905 – June 23, 1945) was a French-Algerian lawyer and founder of the Communist Party of Morocco.

Background

He was born to an Algerian Jewish family—one of 8 children—in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

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 ...

in 1905.Alma Heckman, “Sultan, Léon René”, in: ''Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World'', Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Consulted online on 26 December 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_SIM_000782 He was technically a French citizen due to the

Crémieux Decree The Crémieux Decree (; ) was a law that granted French citizenship to the majority of the Jewish population in French Algeria (around 35,000), signed by the Government of National Defense on 24 October 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was ...

. His father worked at the military factories in the city.

Career

He studied at the College of Law of Algiers (), then from 1925 to 1929 practiced at his own law office in Constantine. In 1929, he moved his practice to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, where he joined young socialists and socialized with the city's

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

as well as

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He was fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

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), ...

. He was

disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduc ...

by the

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

French

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

regime.

Communist activity

In 1936, communist activity was legalized by the Popular Front government in France. A branch of the French communist party was established in Morocco and based in Casablanca, and Léon Sultan served as its secretary. It wasn't big, and it was made up almost exclusively of intellectuals. Léon Sultan wrote articles for the '' Clarté'', a weekly journal published by the group. In 1939, the French communist party as well as its Moroccan branch were banned for

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

. In 1943, communist activity resurged in Morocco, and Léon Sultan served as the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Morocco. He died in June 1945, and Ali Yata assumed leadership of the party.

Military service

He enlisted as a volunteer to fight against the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

of the 5th regiment of Moroccan ''tirailleurs'' (infantrymen). He participated in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, along the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, in the

Palatinate Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, and Austria, where he was injured on April 29, 1945, fighting on the front.{{Cite web, url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46914843, title=Le Petit Marocain, date=1945-06-24, website=Gallica, language=EN, access-date=2020-03-22 He continued to fight at the head of his section, not being hospitalized until May 11, 1945.

Death

He returned to

in June, where he was due to resume his recovery. His return was celebrated by the Communist Party and other democratic organizations. He died unexpectedly of a stroke from complications of his injury at the military hospital in Casablanca.

References

20th-century Mizrahi Jews Algerian anti-fascists Algerian communists Algerian emigrants to Morocco Algerian Jews 20th-century Algerian lawyers Jewish anti-fascists French communists 20th-century French Sephardi Jews Moroccan communists 20th-century Moroccan lawyers People from Constantine, Algeria Jewish communists Moroccan Communist Party politicians