page_title: Philibert Tsiranana
section_title: Tsiranana's illness
hierarchical_section_title: Philibert Tsiranana / The decline and fall of the regime (1967-1972) / Tsiranana's illness
caption_attribution_description: Georges Pompidou
context_page_description: Philibert Tsiranana was a Malagasy politician and leader, who served as the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972.
  During the twelve years of his administration, the Republic of Madagascar experienced institutional stability that stood in contrast to the political turmoil many mainland African countries experienced in this period. This stability contributed to Tsiranana's popularity and his reputation as a remarkable statesman. Madagascar experienced moderate economic growth under his moderately socialist policies and came to be known as "the Happy Island." However, the electoral process was fraught with issues and his term ultimately terminated in a series of farmer and student protests that brought about the end of the First Republic and the establishment of the officially socialist Second Republic.
  The "benevolent schoolmaster" public image that Tsiranana cultivated disguised intense firmness that tended toward authoritarianism. Nonetheless, he remains an esteemed Malagasy political figure remembered throughout the country as its "Father of Independence."
context_section_description: Tsiranana suffered from a Cardiovascular disease. In June 1966, his health degraded sharply; he was forced to spend two and half months convalescing, and to spend three weeks in France receiving treatment. Officially, Tsiranana's sickness was simply one brought on by fatigue. Subsequently, Tsiranana frequently visited Paris for examinations and the French Riviera for rest. Despite this, his health did not improve.
  After being absent for some time, Tsiranana reaffirmed his authority and his role as head of government at the end of 1969. He announced on 2 December, to general surprise, that he would "dissolve" the government, despite the fact that this was not constitutional without a motion of censure. A fortnight later, he formed a new government, which was the same as the old one except for two exceptions. In January 1970, while he was once again absent in France, his health deteriorated suddenly. The French President Georges Pompidou said to Jacques Foccart:
  Tsiranana made a very poor impression on me physically. He had a paper before his eyes and could not read it. He did not seem on top of his business at all and he spoke to me only about minor details, minor things and not general policy.
  — Georges Pompidou
  Nevertheless, Tsiranana travelled to Yaoundé to participate in an OCAM meeting. On his arrival in the Cameroonian capital on 28 January 1970, he had a heart attack and had to be taken back to Paris on a special flight to be treated at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. The President was in a coma for ten days, but when he awoke he retained almost all his faculties and the power of speech. He remained in hospital until 14 May 1970. During this three and a half month period, he received visits from numerous French and Malagasy politicians, including, on 8 April, the head of the opposition, Richard Andriamanjato, who was on his way back from Moscow.
  On 24 May, Tsiranana returned to Madagascar. In December 1970, he announced his decision to remain in power because he considered himself to have recovered his health. But his political decline had only just begun. Encouraged by the cult of personality which surrounded him, Tsiranana became authoritarian and irritable. He sometimes claimed divine support:
  Didn't God chose David, a poor farmer, to be king of Israel? And didn't God take a humble cattle farmer from a lonely village of Madagascar to be head of an entire people?
  — Philibert Tsiranana
  In fact, cut off from reality by an entourage of self-interested courtiers, he showed himself unable to appreciate the socio-economic situation.
caption: Georges Pompidou.
exif: {}