Georges Adda

Georges Adda
Born (1916-09-16)September 16, 1916
Tunis
Died September 28, 2008(2008-09-28) (aged 92)
Tunis
Nationality Tunisian
Occupation Union activist
Known for Tunisian General Labour Union; L'Avenir de la Tunisie
Spouse(s) Gladys Adda
Children two

Georges Adda (Arabic: جورج عدة‎) (September 22, 1916 in Tunis – September 28, 2008 in Tunis), was a Tunisian politician and trade unionist, and a former leader of the Tunisian Communist Party.[1][2]

Biography

Adda was a respected figure of the Tunisian left opposition.[3] He described himself as an Antizionist Tunisian Jew.[1][3] He brought unlimited support to the liberation of Palestine,[3] often proclaiming his support to the rights of "the martyr population in Palestine".[1] He fought "for freedom, democracy and human rights, for defence of just causes in Tunisia and the world".[4] He was also active in the fight for workers' rights in the Tunisian General Labour Union.[1]

Adda was a member of the Tunisian Communist Party (PCT) from 1934. He belonged to the group which went on with the clandestine struggle after the arrest of the Neo-Destour and Communist leaders in September 1934. He was himself imprisoned by the French colonial authorities from September 1935 to April 1936. Once out of jail, he was nominated on June 1, 1936 at the National Conference of the party as Vice Secretary-General, and in charge of the Communist Youth.

In April 1940, he was placed under house arrest at Zaghouan, then at Béja where he stayed until November 13, 1943, when he fled to neighbouring Algeria.

Around 1944 he met Gladys who was also an active member of the communist party. She was also a strong believer in social justice and he became her second husband and they had twins.[5]

Adda was arrested again in 1952 by the French colonial authorities, and with other Destour and Communist leaders was sent to internal exile in Southern Tunisia. He was not freed until 1955. He later wrote about this period:

For the liberation of my country, I knew prisons, concentration camps and deportations by the French colonialists.[2]

Adda was a member of the PCT executive until 1957. For many years he remained an important leading member of the party and the director of its French-speaking weekly, L'Avenir de la Tunisie ("Tunisia's Future"). After independence he continued to play a role as an activist, but without an official post inside the party. His presence was still felt through his opinions, press articles and participation in democratic and trade-unionist movements.

His son Serge Adda, the former president of TV5MONDE, predeceased him in 2004.[1]

Adda died of a heart attack, and was buried at the Borgel Jewish Cemetery where his wife Gladys and his son were already interred.[3]

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Tunisie: décès de Georges Adda, personnalité politique de gauch] (in French), Agence France-Presse, September 29, 2008, archived from the original on January 23, 2011, retrieved October 25, 2009
  2. 1 2 Ali Mahjoubi, Georges Adda (in French), Jeune Afrique, October 5, 2008, p. 41
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tunisie: Décès de Georges Adda (in French), Business News, September 29, 2008, retrieved October 25, 2009
  4. ↑ Brahim, Ahmed (October 1, 2008), Eloge funèbre du patriote et militant progressiste Georges Adda (in French), ettajdid.org, retrieved October 25, 2009
  5. ↑ Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
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