Sourou-Migan Apithy
Sourou - Migan Apithy ( born April 8, 1913 in Porto Novo, † November 12, 1989 in Paris) was 1964-1965 President of Dahomey.
Life
Apithy came from the city of Porto Novo in the south of the then French Dahomey ( Benin since 1975 ). After attending Catholic mission schools he studied economics in Paris and worked as an accountant.
Political career to 1960
In 1946 he was first involved a deputy of the Constituent Assembly of the Fourth Republic and the French National Assembly and was on the founding of the party Rassemblement Démocratique Africain ( RDA). In 1948, he left the RDA and founded the Parti Républicain Dahoméen ( PRD) - Parti Démocratique only later (PD ), which is modeled on Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, who competed at this time with the RDA. In 1956 he became mayor of Porto Novo. After elections to the Territorial Assembly, he was on May 25, 1957 Vice President of the Government Council. In May 1958, he took over the office of the Government of Dahomey, but was defeated by the RDA under the leadership of Hubert Maga Coutoucou in new elections in May 1959. The latter succeeded him as head of government.
In independent Dahomey
After the country gained independence in 1960 he became vice-president under the first President Maga and was a member of the Cabinet. Apithy was an advocate of close cooperation with France. After Magas resignation he stood in October 1963 for a day at the top before chief of staff Christophe Soglo took over this post.
He held the office of President after the confirmation of a new constitution in a referendum by the interim president Soglo on 25 January 1964. On November 29, 1965 Apithy stepped back to make way for a new government under the President of Parliament Tahirou Congacou, the latter was at December 22, 1965 overthrown by General Soglo after his claim had not borne fruit to the warring parties for better cooperation. Apithy went into exile in France and returned to Soglos fall 1967.
In 1970, he was next to Justin Ahomadegbé - Tomêtin and Coutoucou Hubert Maga to the three-member presidential council, whose members should alternate head of state. While Magas tenure occurred on October 26, 1972 coup of Major Mathieu Kérékou who made those rules obsolete. Together with his two colleagues, he was placed under arrest and was allowed to leave the country until 1981. He went back to France, spent the rest of his life in exile and died in Paris.