He was born in Beledweyne, a city near Ethiopia, in 1908. He belonged to the Hawiye tribe. Osman Daar studied at government schools, and between 1929 and 1941, he served in the Italian colonial administration. In 1944, he joined the Somali Youth League.

In 1946, he was named Secretary of the party´s section in Beledweyne. In 1951, the Mudug Regional Council appointed him for the Regional Council, and two years later, he became Vice President of the Regional Council. From 1954 until 1956, he was President of the Somali Youth League. He was re-elected in May of 1958, and he continued to hold this position simultaneously along with that of President of the Legislative Assembly until 1960.

On July 1, 1960, the United Nations approved Somalia´s independence, and it united with the former British protectorate of Somalia, which had already obtained its independence on June 26.

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar became the nation´s first president, a position that he held until 1967 when he was defeated by former Prime Minister Abdi Rashid Alí Shermarke. Osman Daar ceded his power after losing the democratic elections, in a time when presidential leaders were only removed by a coup d'état or with the person´s natural death.

From his seat in the Assembly, he retired to parliamentary life, but he was arrested in October 1969, as a result of Mohamed Siyad Barre´s military coup, and was not released until 1973.

Retired from politics since then, he is probably the only figure that is generally respected in a nation devastated by divisions between clans and the excesses of men of war.

On May 19, 2007, his death was mistakenly announced at a Nairobi (Kenya) hospital. The error was clarified, but he passed a way a few weeks later on June 8, 2007, at the age of 99.

Sources:

• Wikipedia

• Web page Biografías y vidas (Biographies and lives)

• Information about Sierra Leone in Elmundoviajes.com