Gabriel d'Arboussier

Who is Gabriel d'Arboussier?

Gabriel d'Arboussier was a Senegalese-French politician.

Son of a colonial governor and a Muslim mother he studied in France and began a career as a colonial administrator. d'Arboussier served in the French National Assembly from 1945-1946, and From 1946 he was member of Gabon's 1st constituent assembly under Houphouet-Boigny, a founder of the African Democratic Rally, where he became secretary general. The same year he was co-opted by his party to be a counselor of the French Union. In 1949, he traveled around the world and made a journey to the Soviet Union.

A colorful character, cultured and brilliant, Arboussier fell out with Houphouet-Boigny, costing him his mandate in the RDA and the French Union.

He was the first Vice-President and Chairman of the Grand Council of the AOF from March 1958 to January 1959. After the wave of decolonization, he became Minister of Justice in Senegal. He also served as a Deputy Director of UNESCO from 1963 to 1964 and ambassador to France at the same time, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of the United Nations and was Appointed Ambassador to West Germany in 1974.