Léon Réne Sultan (; September 13, 1905 – June 23, 1945) was a French-Algerian lawyer and founder of the Communist Party of Morocco.

Background

He was born to an Algerian Jewish family—one of 8 children—in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...

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in 1905. He was technically a French citizen due to the Crémieux Decree. His father worked at the military factories in the city.

Career

He studied at the College of Law of Algiers (), then from 1925 to 1929 practiced at his own law office in Constantine. In 1929, he moved his practice to

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, where he joined young socialists and socialized with the city's

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

as well as

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He was fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. He was

disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduct ...

by the

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

French

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

regime.

Communist activity

In 1936, communist activity was legalized by the Popular Front government in France. A branch of the French communist party was established in Morocco and based in Casablanca, and Léon Sultan served as its secretary. It wasn't big, and it was made up almost exclusively of intellectuals. Léon Sultan wrote articles for the '' Clarté'', a weekly journal published by the group. In 1939, the French communist party as well as its Moroccan branch were banned for

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

. In 1943, communist activity resurged in Morocco, and Léon Sultan served as the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Morocco. He died in June of 1945, and Ali Yata assumed leadership of the party.

Military service

He enlisted as a volunteer to fight against the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

of the 5th regiment of Moroccan ''tirailleurs'' (infantrymen). He participated in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, along the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, in the Palatinate Forest,

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and Austria, where he was injured on April 29, 1945 fighting on the front.{{Cite web, url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46914843, title=Le Petit Marocain, date=1945-06-24, website=Gallica, language=EN, access-date=2020-03-22 He continued to fight at the head of his section, not being hospitalized until May 11, 1945.

Death

He returned to

in June, where was due to resume his recovery. His return was celebrated by the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and other democratic organizations. He died unexpectedly of a stroke from complications of his injury at the military hospital in Casablanca.

References

20th-century Mizrahi Jews Algerian anti-fascists Algerian communists Algerian emigrants to Morocco Algerian Jews 20th-century Algerian lawyers Jewish anti-fascists French communists 20th-century French Sephardi Jews Moroccan communists 20th-century Moroccan lawyers People from Constantine, Algeria Jewish communists