Born: 7 May 1929, Madagascar
Died: 27 June 2011
Country most active: Madagascar
Also known as: Marie Gisèle Aimée Rabesahala
Malagasy politician and activist Gisèle Rabesahala was the first woman to hold a ministerial position in Madagascar’s federal government in 1977, as well as the country’s first woman municipal councilor and the first Malagasy woman to establish and lead a political party.
Rabesahala became politically active in Malagasy nationalist circles when she was 17, fighting for independence from French colonial oppression. She became the secretary general of the Comité de Solidarité Malgache (Malagasy Solidity Committee), which aimed to create a broad nationalist coalition following the 1947 Malagasy Uprising. Rabesahala worked to free thousands of prisoners, writing newspaper articles and working with members of the French National Assembly, calling international attention to the issue. Once independence was achieved in 1960, the Comité shifted focus to education, health and other priorities. She also served on the editorial board of the nationalist newspaper Imongo Vaovao, a position she held until her death in 2011.
In 1956, Rabesahala became the first Malagasy woman to be elected as a municipal councilor, and started the Union of the Malagasy People, a political party. A dedicated Marxist, she served on the executive of the Malagasy labour union FISEMA and co-founded the communist Congress Party for the Independence of Madagascar (AKFM), which came to power in 1975. Rabesahala represented her hometown of Antananarivo as a deputy in the National Assembly and, starting in 1977, served as minister for revolutionary art and culture until 1989, then as minister of culture from 1989 until 1991, when the ministry was abolished.