PDRY - Awards of Abdulfatah Ismail

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,

I am currently working on a draft on the awards of the PDRY and have come across this image of Abdulfatah Ismail. The only award I am fairly sure of is that on the right of the photo being what I believe to be the senior state award of the PDRY - the Order of the Revolution. The awards on the left are too indistinct to even hazard a guess, however somebody may be able to identify the other breast badge and neck badge. He was very much in the Soviet camp thus they might well be Soviet awards. Following his deposition in 1980 he lived in exile in the USSR to return only to disappear in mysterious circumstances in 1986. I have no date for this picture but would suggest it is from his period of office as President. Of course the neck badge and sash my be simply the badges of office of the President.

All suggestions welcome!

Owain

[Ed_Haynes]

Oh . . . nice . . .

His first award on the left is the Soviet OIrder of Friendship of Peoples.

Let me expand the image and do some serious quinting . . . .

[oamotme]

Thanks Ed - two down three to go! When was the Soviet piece instituted? As it is in a prime position it may imply the picture was taken during a visit to Moscow. The Order of the Revolution was a Soviet manufactured award from the state mint in Moscow so in theory he could have got it whilst in exile.

Owain

[Ed_Haynes]

Established 17 December 1972. Fascinating photo . . . .

[oamotme]

Thanks - so the date doesn't help in dating the photo, though my feeling is it is of the man whilst President.

This Order of the Revolution commemorates the traditional date of the uprising against the Federal Government and the British, being 14 October 1963. To my mind this is the senior award of the PDRY as it was this award which was presented in May 1990 by Ali Salim Al Beidh to Ali Abdullah Saleh on the proclamation of the Republic of Yemen - I have a photograph somewhere to be found. He reciprocated with the presentation of the Order of the Republic to Al Beidh. The award was also depicted on the upper right of the main newspaper of the PDRY "Al Thowra" or "The Revolution".

With regard to the manufacture of P.D.R.Y. awards in the Soviet Union I endeavoured to obtain details through correspondence with the late Igor Victorov-Orlov. Igor was able to confirm through colleagues having connections with the Moscow and Leningrad Mints that both received instructions from the Government of the P.D.R.Y. to manufacture some awards during the period 1973 to 1984. As to which particular awards these details were unavailable.

Regards, Owain.

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,

It has been a long time coming - 12 years - but at last I have been able to identify the neck badge (in gold) as the order of the 'Hero of Ethiopia' of the People's Republic of Ethiopia from the time of the Derg / Mengistu regime.

So now I need to identify the sash and the two small medals on his right breast........

Regards,

Owain

 

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,

Even further progress - by 'googling' his name in Arabic I have found a colour version of the above image of Abdul Fattah Ismail and it is a portrait length image too. The sash, badge and star he is wearing of the East German Order - Stern der Völkerfreundschaft  - it is the Grand Star - see details from Wikipedia below.

The inner 'small' medal is probably the Soviet Lenin 100th Anniversary Medal as awarded 'to the figures of the international communist and labor movement and other progressive foreign leaders'. 

Any ideas as to what the last and smallest medal is?

Regards,

Owain

The Star of People's Friendship (German: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft), a.k.a. Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Established 20 August 1959, it was given to individuals of exceptional merit who had contributed to the "understanding and friendship between nations and preservation of peace".

The Star of People's Friendship was given in three classes:

1st Class – Grand Star of People's Friendship in Gold (German: Großer Stern der Völkerfreundschaft in Gold)

2nd Class – Star of People's Friendship in Gold (German: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft in Gold)

3rd class – Star of People's Friendship in Silver. (German: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft in Silber)

It was awarded on the recommendation of the presidency of the Council of Ministers (German: Präsidium des Ministerrates) via the chairman of the Council of State (German: Vorsitzender des Staatsrates) or in its name.

The medal was awarded with a certificate.

 

 

[heusy68]

Hello Owain,

This is a photo from the Order of the Hero Star of Ethiopia (obverse & reverse).

It's in gold, with marking on reverse : 750 & KD

Regards to all.

     Emmanuel

Edited June 17, 2020 by heusy68

[oamotme]

Thanks Emmanuel - as awarded to Erich Hoenecker and for sale at the next Thies Auction - no doubt it will be expensive! Owain 

[Bob]

I am browsing through the Thies catalogue - such a shame these awards are not coming with documents. Over time the provenance of these items will be lost.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Bob

[oamotme]

Bob,

Yes, you are right - the lack of documentation is annoying - with some of the more obscure awards any historical context or decrees/laws are invariably difficult to source and thus a certificate, as well as providing provenance also assists with research. As far as I am aware other than references to laws on PDRY certificates, to date, none of the actual instituting laws or regulations have been seen. The main PDRY law is, I believe, Law 45 of 1978.

Regards,

Owain