Richard Mahitsison Andriamanjato (31 July 1930 – 16 May 2013) was a Malagasy

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. After leaving education, Andriamanjato became a Pastor. He also became involved with the nationalist cause. From 1950 to 1957, he studied in France. In 1957, he attended the

Bandung Conference The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference ( id, Konferensi Asia–Afrika)—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–2 ...

and became the leading figure in the section of the nationalist movement opposed to Philibert Tsiranana. He also succeeded the popular nationalist figure Pastor Ravelojaona as pastor of the Ambohitantely Temple in

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

. Andriamanjato soon joined the Council of the Protestant Federation of Madagascar. He also became the President of the Council of the Churches of Africa, was a member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

of Geneva and a director of the Christian Institute for Peace. Andriamanjato also became a convinced

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. In 1958, he founded the

Party of the Independence Congress of Madagascar Party of the Independence Congress of Madagascar (in French language, French: ''Parti du Congrès de l'indépendence de Madagascar'', in Malagasy language, Malagasy: ''Antoko'ny Kongresi'ny Fahaleovantenan'i Madagasikara''), is a communist polit ...

(AKFM), which developed links with the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

and acted as the main opposition for more than a decade. In 1959, he was elected

Mayor of Antananarivo The Mayor of Antananarivo is the Mayor of the capital city, capital and largest city in Madagascar, Antananarivo. The post of mayor of Antananarivo is considered to be one of the most prominent and influential offices in Madagascar. It is also con ...

. In 1972, Andriamanjato supported Didier Ratsiraka, and in 1976 he led the AKFM into the

National Front for the Defence of the Revolution The Malagasy Revolutionary Party, better known by its Malagasy language, Malagasy acronym AREMA (from ), is a political party in Madagascar. It was the ruling party of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a Marxist–Leninist one-party social ...

, the government coalition. A supporter of Albert Zafy, he split from Ratsiraka and the AKFM in 1989 to form the

Party of the Independence Congress of Madagascar - Renewal A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

. From 1991 to 1993, he was co-president of the transitional

Committee for Economic and Social Recovery A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

along with

Manandafy Rakotonirina Manandafy Rakotonirina (30 October 1938 - 15 March 2019
.Richard ANDRIAMANJATO
. in 1993 he became the President of the

National Assembly of Madagascar The National Assembly ( mg, Antenimieram-Pirenena; french: Assemblée Nationale) is the lower house of the Parliament of Madagascar. The Assembly has 151 members, elected for five-year terms in single-member and two-member constituencies. The Pa ...

, serving in that position until 1998. He stood for his party in the November 1996 presidential election and took fifth place, receiving 4.94% of the votes cast."RAPPORT DE LA MISSION EXPLORATOIREEN VUE DE L’ELECTION PRESIDENTIELLEDU 3 NOVEMBRE 1996"
democratie.francophonie.org . Since the mid-1990s, Andriamanjato has stepped down from public life. His son, Ny Hasina Andriamanjato, is also a politician.

References

1930 births 2013 deaths African Christian socialists Malagasy Protestants Merina people Congress Party for the Independence of Madagascar politicians Christian communists Malagasy communists Malagasy nationalists Presidents of the National Assembly (Madagascar) Mayors of Antananarivo {{Madagascar-mayor-stub