Lisette (1919-2001), Gabriel

A civil servant of Overseas France born in Guadeloupe, he became a fierce opponent of the administration from which he derived. After the Second World War, when political parties were authorized, he led the Parti Progressiste Tchadien (PPT). The latter established itself in the cotton zones and was supported by animist and Christian populations. A section of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), the PPT soon became a source of trade-union opposition in the factories of Cotonfran (a cotton company) and of resistance to the administration and traditional chiefs. It was opposed to the UDT, the local section of the Gaullist RPF, which emerged as the party of notables and the administration (its supporters predominantly derived from Muslim milieus). Gabriel Lisette was ousted from power by François Tombalbaye, who took advantage of a foreign mission by Lisette to seize power. Gabriel Lisette was in exile when Chad’s independence was proclaimed on August 11, 1960.