The father of Martyrs, Sheikh Abdelkadir Muhammad Saleh Kebire (1902-1949)
First martyr of the Eritrean struggle for Liberation. He is a pioneer in the struggle for justice for all Eritreans. He co-founded the Liberal Nationalist Party in 1941. He organized first ever public political demonstration in modern Eritrean history. On May 5, 1941, he led the formation of “Mahber Fiqri Hager” (Party of love of Country) which he later left once it started to advocate for annexation of Eritrea with Ethiopia. In 1944, he was a founding member of a patriotic Eritrean group association “Eritrea N’ Eritreans”. Later, Kebire became the political dynamo and leader of Islamic League (Rabita al Islamiya) in Asmara. In April 1945, Kebire was elected by Al Rabita to represent Eritrea’s case at the UN Assembly. On the eve of the day, he was to depart to New York, he was assassinated by an Ethiopian agent and died two days later due to his injuries. Please explore more detail of his biography in our resource section.