Abderrahmane Youssoufi

Born in Tangier,^[6] Youssoufi was a socialist from a young age,^[6] dedicating himself to organizing the working class of Casablanca as early as 1944.^[6] In 1949 Youssoufi began also to fight for the rights of immigrant Moroccan workers in France.^[6] He also studied law, practicing in Tangier from 1952 to 1960.^[7]

The Youssoufi family were of Berbers origin, and the future prime minister spoke only Tamazight and French until he began school, where he learned standard Arabic and Darija (Moroccan Arabic).^[8]

Youssoufi evolves within the Army of Liberation in the company of its formidable leader Fqih Basri.^[9] Through Mehdi Ben Barka, Youssoufi joined a group of passionate young men who shared a vision: An independent Morocco. Youssoufi became a member of the Al Istiqlal (Independence) Party and, at only 19 years old, threw himself into the fight for a free Morocco.^[10] He was nicknamed Lenin by the Moroccan police for his excessive Nationalism.^[11] He was arrested Twice, once imprisoned for his political dissidence, he was one of the most important figures in Morocco’s political scene.^[12] his participation in the creation of the Arab Organization for Human Rights

In 1959, Youssoufi was one of the founders of the National Union of Popular Forces, a left-wing political party.^[13] He was arrested for his involvement in 1959 and again in 1963,^[6] the latter arrest leading to a prison sentence of two years.^[7] Following his release, Youssoufi went into self-imposed exile in Paris for a period of fifteen years.^[7] Later he returned to Morocco.^[14] Meanwhile, the National Union of Popular Forces became the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and Abderrahmane Youssoufi was appointed its permanent delegate outside the country, and later, in 1978, a member of its political bureau.^[15] In 1980 Youssoufi returned to join the new party,^[16] becoming the party secretary in 1992 after the death of Abderrahim Bouabid.^[1]

In 1983, he co-founded the Arab Organization for Human Rights along with Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and French-Syrian sociologist Burhan Ghalioun.^[17][18]

Prime Minister

On 4 February 1998, following the victory of Youssoufi's party in the 1997 Moroccan general election, King Hassan II named Youssoufi the Prime Minister of Morocco.^[19][20] Youssoufi formed a left-center government which would provide greater freedoms for the people and media.^[21][1] In 2002, the USFP was re-elected to a majority in the general election that year, although King Mohammed VI appointed a technocrat, Driss Jettou, to succeed Youssoufi as Prime Minister. On 28 October 2003, Abderrahmane Youssoufi resigned from his post as First Secretary of the USFP.^[22]

In February 2005, Youssoufi announced his retirement from politics.^[13] He began to live in Casablanca after his retirement.^[1] On 15 October 2016, Youssoufi was hospitalized for pneumonia and King Mohammed VI visited him in the hospital.^[23][24] He had no children.^[25]

Youssoufi died on 29 May 2020, at the age of 96 due to lung cancer.^[26][27] His funeral took place Friday at the “Chouhada” (martyrs) cemetery in Casablanca in the presence of a small number of relatives due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[28]

National honours

• Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne.^[29]

In 1991, Youssoufi was one of the two winners of the North-South Prize.^[30] In 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco honored Youssoufi by naming an avenue in Tangier after him.^[31][32]