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Aden Abdullah Osman Daar (Aaden Cabdulle Cusmaan Daar) was the first
President of Somalia after its independence in 1960.

Aden Abdullah Osman was born at Beledweyne (Hiiraan Region) in 1908. After
receiving education at State Schools, he acquired administrative experience in
Government offices.

He subsequently devoted himself to his own business. In February 1944, he joined
the Somali Youth Club (subsequently called Somali Youth League), became a
member of the party's steering board and in 1946 was appointed Secretary of the
Belet Weyne section of the party.
In 1951 the Regional Council of Mudug designated him for the Territorial Council on
which he served uninterruptedly (up to February 1956) as the representative of
the S.Y.L.

Aden abdullah osman Daar
The first President of
Somalia

In 1953 he was appointed Vice-President of the Territorial Council. In 1954 he became the President of the
Somali Youth League and remained office until 1956. Re-elected to the same position in May 1958, he
occupied this post simultaneously with the post of the President of the Legislative Assembly until July 1,
1960. In 1956, when the Territorial Council was replaced by Legislative Assembly, he was elected member
of the National Assembly for Belet Weyne District at the general political elections, and in meantime the
Legislative Assembly appointed him its President. In the 1959 general political elections, he was again
elected member of the National Assembly, which again appointed him President. He maintained this post
when the Legislative Assembly was converted into the Constituent Assembly.

In his capacity as President of the Constituent Assembly, on July 1, 1960, he proclaimed the Independence
of the Somali Republic and following the unification of the northern and southern territories - former British
Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. The National Assembly chose him as Provisional President of the Republic
for period of 1 year, and in 1961 re-elected him to the same mandate for 6 years.
Aden Abdullah Osman devoted his interest to legal, social and economic studies. Besides Somali, he spoke
Italian, English and Arabic. In the 1967 presidential elections he was beaten by Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
His term as president ended on June 10, 1967. According to the Constitution of the Republic, the out-going
President enjoyed life-membership of the Somali National Assembly. Osman Daar now acts as an elder
statesman in attempts to establish a lasting peace in Somalia.

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