Gisèle Rabesahala: Malagasy’s First Female Minister
The first female to form and become a political Party Leader in Malagasy
Gisèle Rabesahala an astute Malagasy politician, exceptional human rights activist, and a front-line advocate for the independence and overall well-being of humanity was born in the city of Antananarivo in Madagascar by a non-commissioned officer in the French army in 1929. She however spent her early days in France, Tunisia, and present-day Mali as her family moved from place to place in response to her father’s duty calls.
At the demise of her father in 1942, her family returned to Madagascar which was then a French Colony. Gisèle Rabesahala’s childhood dream was to become a nun, but in her adolescence, that dream changed and she rather saw herself as the ‘defender of the innocent’ which propelled her to get educated at a time when only a few Malagasy women were privileged to do so.
Her Career
Gisèle was initially trained as a shorthand typist after earning her Preparatory Certificate. She entered into politics for the first time at the age of 17 as Secretary to the Democratic Movement for the Malagasy Renewal (MDRM) called Comitè de Solidaritè Malgache meaning Malagasy Solidarity Committee which pressed for independence in the wake of the Malagasy…
