Siyad Barre, Muhammad

Born in 1919 in Lugh Fer-randi, Italian Somaliland. Somali government and military figure; major general since 1966.

Born into a poor family, Siyad Barre received his elementary and secondary education in Somaliland. In 1940 he joined the police force, where subsequently he held a number of important posts. In 1950 he was sent to a military academy in Italy, and after graduating he continued his military service in Somaliland. After the proclamation of Somalia’s independence on July 1, 1960, he was appointed deputy commander and chief of the general staff of the Somali Army. In 1965 he was designated commander of the army. On Oct. 21, 1969, he headed a revolutionary coup d’etat. From October 1969 to June 1976 he was president of the Supreme Revolutionary Council and head of state and government. The new government proclaimed the principles of scientific socialism to be the ideological basis of Somali society. In July 1976, Siyad Barre became secretary general of the Central Committee of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party and president and chairman of the Council of the Somali Democratic Republic. In November 1971, Siyad Barre came to the Soviet Union on an official visit.