Background
He was born in 1931 and was a Merina with a less "aristocratic" background and was thus was more palatable to the population.
politician President of Madagascar
He was born in 1931 and was a Merina with a less "aristocratic" background and was thus was more palatable to the population.
His assassination in 1975 led to a civil war. Military career
A graduate of the French Saint Cyr military college, Ratsimandrava served throughout French Africa before returning to Madagascar when that country gained independence in 1960. In 1972 President Gabriel Ramanantsoa established a military government to replace the independence government of Philibert Tsiranana, and Ratsimandrava was appointed Minister of the Interior.
In this position, he was able to manipulate the army, which led to the ousting of Ramanantsoa on February 5, 1975.
Death
Six days following his taking office, Ratsimandrava was assassinated at 8 p.m. while driving from the presidential palace to his home. His death was announced by the new ruling military committee.
The event nearly plunged the country into civil war between supporters of the military government and former President Tsiranana. In 2006, on the 31st anniversary of colonel"s murder, a conference was held in Madagascar.
lieutenant claimed that the President had been killed by members of the Republican Security Forces (Groupe Mobile de Police-Good Manufacturing Practice), a counterinsurgency outfit dissolved by his predecessor.