Touré, (Ahmed) Sékou (1922–1984)

Guinean trade union leader and politician, long-serving first president of the Republic of Guinea 1961–84. In 1958, de Gaulle wished France to retain its west African colonies as self-governing units within a French Community, but Touré successfully organized an overwhelming rejection of this in favour of full independence.

Touré was born at Faranah and educated at an Islamic and other schools in Conakry,. In 1941 he began a career as a trade union official, representing first postal and telecommunications workers and then treasury employees. He was a founder member, then vice-president, of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africaine (RDA), which was established in 1946. By 1950 he had risen to become secretary general of the regional branch of the General Workers'Confederation (CGT). He first entered politics in 1956 as mayor of Conakry and a deputy to the French National Assembly. As president, he was re-elected several times, and survived a number of coup attempts.