Image by bapreston on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Didier Ratsiraka
Sign in to saveAlso known as Didier Ignace Ratsiraka
President of Madagascar (1936-2021)
Key facts
- Prime minister
- Norbert Ratsirahonana , Pascal Rakotomavo , Tantely Andrianarivo
- Preceded by
- Norbert Ratsirahonana (acting)
- Succeeded by
- Marc Ravalomanana
- President
- Gabriel Ramanantsoa
- Born
- ( 1936-11-04 ) 4 November 1936, Vatomandry , French Madagascar
- Died
- 28 March 2021 (2021-03-28) (aged 84), Antananarivo , Madagascar
- Party
- Malagasy Revolutionary Party
- Spouse
- Céline Velonjara ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1964 )
- Relatives
- Roland Ratsiraka (nephew)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Madagascar
- Place of birth
- Vatomandry
- Place of death
- Antananarivo
- Spouse
- Céline Ratsiraka
- Occupation
- diplomat
- Political party
- Malagasy Revolutionary Party
- Languages spoken
- French
- Native language
- Malagasy
- Hair colour
- black hair
- Military rank
- admiral
- Image
- Didier Ratsiraka 1997.jpg
- Number of children
- 4
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- Didier Ratsiraka
- date of birth
- 1936-11-04
- name in native language
- Ratsiraka Didier
- date of death
- 2021-03-28
- manner of death
- natural causes
- cause of death
- influenza
- ethnic group
- Betsimisaraka people
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Didier Ignace Ratsiraka ( Malagasy: [raˈtsirəkə̥]; 4 November 1936 – 28 March 2021) was a Malagasy politician and naval officer who was the third president of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and the fifth from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving president of Madagascar.
He was first appointed president in 1975 by the military leadership, he was then reelected twice in 1982 and 1989. While he lost to Albert Zafy in 1992, Ratsiraka returned to office after winning the 1997 election. After the 2001 election, he and his opponent Marc Ravalomanana engaged in a lengthy standoff after the latter refused to participate in a runoff election; Ratsiraka eventually stepped down.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Didier Ratsiraka” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.