Abdirizak Haji Hussein (; ‎; 24 December 192431 January 2014) was a Somali diplomat and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Somali Republic from 14 June 1964 to 15 July 1967. From 1975 to early 1980, he also served as the country's ambassador to the United Nations. A former Secretary General of the Somali Youth League, Hussein played a leading role in the nation's early civilian administration. Early life Hussein was born in 1924 in Galkayo, the capital of the north-central Mudug region of Somalia. His family hailed from the Majeerteen Harti Darod clan. He studied the Qur'an under his father, Hajji Hussein Atosh, who was an authority on Islam. Hussein was largely self-educated, and was fluent in both Italian and English. He was married, and had two daughters and a son. Career Early career From 1942 to 1949, Hussein served as an officer in the British Military Administration, including as an interpreter. He was also a clerk during the early periods of the Trust Territory of Somalia. In 1950, he was imprisoned for six months for protesting for Somali independence. In 1944, Hussein joined the Somali Youth League. He subsequently became a Galkayo Councillor in 1954, during the nation's first municipal elections. In June 1955, Hussein was sent to the United Nations, where he presented a petition on the SYL's behalf. He was elected the party's Secretary General a few months later, and became a Member of Parliament for the Nugal District of the Mudug region in 1959. That same year, Hussein elected to the National Assembly in 1959. During this period, he was also the president of the Higher Institute of Law and Economics and would later go on to become the president of the University Institute. In the first post-independence government of Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Hussein served as Minister of Interior from 1960 to 1962, and Minister of Public Works and Communications from 1962 to 1964. Prime Minister of Somalia Civilian administration Countrywide municipal elections, in which the Somali Youth League won 74 percent of the seats, occurred in November 1963. These were followed in March 1964 by the country's first post-independence national elections. Again the SYL triumphed, winning 69 out of 123 parliamentary seats. The party's true margin of victory was even greater, as the fifty-four seats won by the opposition were divided among a number of small parties. After the 1964 National Assembly election