Ibrahima Barry, popularly known as Barry III, (b. 1923, Bantiŋel, Pita, d. January 25, 1971, Conakry) was a Guinean politician. He was the leader of the political party Socialist Democracy of Guinea (DSG).
Barry hailed from an aristocratic family of the Seeriyaabhe clan. A graduate of École normale supérieure William Ponty, Barry became a lawyer in France. Barry counted on strong support from the people and administration in the Fouta Jallon region in northern Guinea. In particular, he represented the younger educated generation of the elite sectors of Fula society. Barry was also a freemason.
Barry was the DSG candidate in the 1954 legislative by-election. He obtained 16,098 votes (6.3% of the vote in Guinea). Barry had overtaken the position as the leader of the socialist movement after Yaciné Diallo (whose death had provoked the holding of the by-election in 1954), but Barry III's hostile discourse against the Fula traditional chiefs (who had supported Diallo) aliented large sections of former supporters of Diallo.
Ahead of the 1956 election, the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) offered Barry to be one of their three candidates for the legislative election (along with Sékou Touré). Barry III, however, rejected the offer.
In the same year, Barry III stood as candidate for mayor of Conakry (in which he was defeated by Sékou Touré).
In 1957, Barry became the general secretary of the African Socialist Movement (MSA).
In the first government of independent Guinea, Barry was included as a minister.
After the merger of DSG into the African Regroupment Party (PRA), Barry became the general secretary of the Guinean branch of PRA. In November 1958 the Guinean PRA was dissolved, and Barry III instructed his followers to join the PDG.
Barry was arrested in December 1970. He was held prisoner at Camp Alpha Yahya. On January 25, 1971 he was hanged in public at Tombo Bridge in Conakry.
Read more about Barry III: Nickname
Famous quotes containing the words barry and/or iii:
“Let’s face it, we became ingrown, clannish, and retarded. Cut off from the mainstream of humanity, we came to believe that pink is “flesh-color”, that mayonnaise is a nutrient, and that Barry Manilow is a musician.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Napoleon wanted to turn Paris into Rome under the Caesars, only with louder music and more marble. And it was done. His architects gave him the Arc de Triomphe and the Madeleine. His nephew Napoleon III wanted to turn Paris into Rome with Versailles piled on top, and it was done. His architects gave him the Paris Opera, an addition to the Louvre, and miles of new boulevards.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)