Léon Sultan | |
---|---|
ليون سلطان | |
![]() A portrait of Leon Sultan published with his obituary in
Le Petit Marocain June 24, 1945.
[1] | |
Born | |
Died | June 23, 1945 | (aged 39)
Cause of death | Stroke from complications of an injury sustained in combat |
Léon Réne Sultan ( Arabic: ليون سلطان; September 13, 1905 – June 23, 1945) was a French-Algerian lawyer and founder of the Communist Party of Morocco. [2] [3] [4] [1]
He was born to an Algerian Jewish family—one of 8 children—in Constantine, Algeria in 1905. [2] [5] He was technically a French citizen due to the Crémieux Decree. [2] His father worked at the military factories in the city. [2]
He studied at the College of Law of Algiers (Faculté de droit d’Alger), then from 1925 to 1929 practiced at his own law office in Constantine. [2] In 1929, he moved his practice to Casablanca, Morocco, where he joined young socialists and socialized with the city's Muslims as well as Jews. [2] [5] He was fluent in Arabic and French. [4]
He was disbarred by the antisemitic French Vichy regime. [5] [1]
In 1936, communist activity was legalized by the Popular Front government in France. [3] A branch of the French communist party was established in Morocco and based in Casablanca, and Léon Sultan served as its secretary. [3] It wasn't big, and it was made up almost exclusively of intellectuals. [3] Léon Sultan wrote articles for the Clarté, a weekly journal published by the group. [5] [3] In 1939, the French communist party as well as its Moroccan branch were banned for Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. [3]
In 1943, communist activity resurged in Morocco, and Léon Sultan served as the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Morocco. [3]
He died in June 1945, and Ali Yata assumed leadership of the party. [3]
He enlisted as a volunteer to fight against the Nazis in WWII. [1] He was a lieutenant of the 5th regiment of Moroccan tirailleurs (infantrymen). [1] He participated in Alsace, along the Rhine, in the Palatinate Forest, Württemberg, Bavaria, and Austria, where he was injured on April 29, 1945, fighting on the front. [1] He continued to fight at the head of his section, not being hospitalized until May 11, 1945. [1]
He returned to Casablanca in June, where was due to resume his recovery. [1] His return was celebrated by the Communist Party and other democratic organizations. [1] He died unexpectedly of a stroke from complications of his injury at the military hospital in Casablanca. [1]
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