Omar

Bongo, Omar (El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba), 1935-2009, Gabonese political leader, president of Gabon (1967-2009), b. Albert-Bernard Bongo. He entered the civil service (1958), became minister of information and tourism in 1966, vice president in 1967, and then succeeded to the presidency. He created a one-party state (1968) and was reelected in 1973, 1979, and 1986. His rule provided stability and attracted foreign investment but also led to corruption, including wealth for the president and his family, and political repression. Protests forced him to reinstate a multiparty system in 1990. Bongo was reelected in 1993 and 1998 in elections generally regarded as unfair by observers; he triumphed over a divided opposition again in 2005. He died in office. His son, Ali Bongo (Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba), 1959-, b. Alain Bernard Bongo, succeeded him as president in 2009 after an election that the opposition denounced as fraudulent. Ali Bongo served as foreign minister (1989-91) and defense minister (1999-2009) as well as a deputy in the National Assembly before running for president.

Torrijos Herrera, Omar, 1929-81, military leader, dictator of Panama (1968-78). As a lieutenant colonel, he led, together with Col. Boris Martínez, the coup (1968) that ousted President Arnulfo Arias. In 1969, he exiled Martínez, and promoted himself to brigadier general. Later that year, following a coup attempt by younger officers, he tightened his grip on the country. He instituted wide-ranging economic and social reforms, espousing birth control, expropriating land, and attacking Panama's powerful families. In Sept., 1972, an elected assembly granted Torrijos full civil and military powers for six years. He successfully negotiated new Panama Canal treaties (1977) with U.S. President Jimmy Carter that transferred the Canal Zone and ultimately the canal to Panamanian control. In 1978, he chose not to run for president, though he remained as commander of the National Guard. He died in a plane crash.

Omar: see Umar, caliph.

Omar, in the Bible, duke of Edom.

Khayyam, Omar: see Omar Khayyam.

(born Feb. 13, 1929, Santiago de Veragua, Pan.—died Aug. 1, 1981, near Penonomé) Virtual dictator of Panama (1968–78). He entered the national guard in 1952 after military studies in Venezuela and the U.S., rose to the rank of general, and came to power in 1968 in a coup d'état. A nationalist and populist, he was one of the few Latin American heads of state to visit Fidel Castro in Cuba, though he suppressed leftist labour agitators and students at home. In 1977 he achieved his supreme goal when U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter signed two treaties agreeing to transfer the Panama Canal and Canal Zone to Panamanian sovereignty in 1999. He died in a plane crash while on a military inspection tour.

Learn more about Torrijos (Herrera), Omar with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 12, 1893, Clark, Mo., U.S.—died April 8, 1981, New York, N.Y.) U.S. army commander. After graduating from West Point, he directed the army's infantry school at the start of World War II. In 1943 he commanded U.S. forces in the North Africa Campaign and contributed directly to the fall of Tunisia to the Allies; he then led the successful invasion of Sicily. As commander of the 1st Army, he helped plan the invasion of France and took part in the Normandy Campaign and the liberation of Paris. As commander of the 12th Army, the largest U.S. force ever placed under one general, he oversaw European operations until the German surrender. After the war he was appointed head of veterans' affairs (1945–47) and chief of staff of the army (1948–49). Admired by both officers and men, he was chosen the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949–53) and promoted to General of the Army (1950).

Learn more about Bradley, Omar N(elson) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

byname of Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fathsubdot aynUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Neyshābūrī al-Khayyāmī

(born May 18, 1048, Neyshābūr, Khorāsān—died Dec. 4, 1131, Neyshābūr) Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer. Educated in the sciences and philosophy, he was renowned in his country and time for his scientific achievements, but few of his prose writings survive. His verses attracted little attention until his robāaynīyāt (“quatrains”) were loosely translated into English by Edward FitzGerald and published in 1859. Many of the quatrains (each of which was intended as an independent poem) are of doubtful attribution; most scholars agree on the authenticity of about 50, with controversy over some 200 others.

Learn more about Omar Khayyam with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1925, Martinique—died Dec. 6, 1961, Washington, D.C., U.S.) West Indian psychoanalyst and social philosopher. He served in the French army in World War II, earned a medical degree, and became head of the psychiatric department of an Algerian hospital, where he edited the newspaper of the National Liberation Front (from 1956). In 1960 he was appointed ambassador to Ghana by the rebel provisional government. His widely read book The Wretched of the Earth (1961) urged colonized peoples to purge themselves of their degradation in a “collective catharsis” to be achieved through violence against European oppressors. He died of leukemia at age 36.

Learn more about Fanon, Frantz (Omar) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1925, Martinique—died Dec. 6, 1961, Washington, D.C., U.S.) West Indian psychoanalyst and social philosopher. He served in the French army in World War II, earned a medical degree, and became head of the psychiatric department of an Algerian hospital, where he edited the newspaper of the National Liberation Front (from 1956). In 1960 he was appointed ambassador to Ghana by the rebel provisional government. His widely read book The Wretched of the Earth (1961) urged colonized peoples to purge themselves of their degradation in a “collective catharsis” to be achieved through violence against European oppressors. He died of leukemia at age 36.

Learn more about Fanon, Frantz (Omar) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 12, 1893, Clark, Mo., U.S.—died April 8, 1981, New York, N.Y.) U.S. army commander. After graduating from West Point, he directed the army's infantry school at the start of World War II. In 1943 he commanded U.S. forces in the North Africa Campaign and contributed directly to the fall of Tunisia to the Allies; he then led the successful invasion of Sicily. As commander of the 1st Army, he helped plan the invasion of France and took part in the Normandy Campaign and the liberation of Paris. As commander of the 12th Army, the largest U.S. force ever placed under one general, he oversaw European operations until the German surrender. After the war he was appointed head of veterans' affairs (1945–47) and chief of staff of the army (1948–49). Admired by both officers and men, he was chosen the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949–53) and promoted to General of the Army (1950).

Learn more about Bradley, Omar N(elson) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Omar may refer to:

• Omar, an Arabic name (more accurately transliterated `Umar). It means "flourishing" and was the name of one of Muhammad's closest companions and a controversial figure in Islamic history, future Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattāb.
• A common name in Spanish-speaking countries (due to the Arabic influence on Spain).
• Omar ibn al-Khattāb, The second Caliph of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam
• Mohammed Omar, leader of the Taliban of Afghanistan
• Omar Khayyám, a medieval Persian scientist
• Omar Torrijos, the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981
• Omar Bradley, one of the main U.S. Army field commanders in North Africa and Europe during World War II
• Omar, also known as Omar Lye-Fook, a British soul singer and musician, one of the founders of the Neo Soul movement of the 1990's
• Gabriel Omar Batistuta, a former Argentine football player
• Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, lead guitarist and composer of The Mars Volta and former guitarist of At the Drive-In
• Omar Little, a character on the HBO drama The Wire
• Omar Epps, an American actor
• Omar Mukhtar, leader of the resistance movement against the Italian military occupation of Libya
• Omar Pinzón, a Colombia backstroke swimmer
• Omar Sharif, an Academy Award nominated Egyptian actor who has starred in many Hollywood films.
• Omar Vizquel, Major League Baseball shortstop playing for the San Francisco Giants
• Omar Samra, the 1st Egyptian to climb Mount Everest
• Omar Naber, Slovenian singer
• Omar Sivori, a former Argentine football player
• Don Omar, a Puerto-Rican reggaeton artist
• Omar Bravo, an international Mexican football player

• Omar, Sulu, a municipality in the Philippines
• Omar (Deus Ex), a fictional group of cyborgs in the computer game Deus Ex: Invisible War.

OMAR is an acronym for:

• Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation, a charitable non-governmental organisation
• Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime - a fictional shadowy OPEC-style organization found in the auto-combat videogames Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8: Second Offense.
• Omar, Mozambique

See also:

• Omagh
• Umar
• Umar (disambiguation)
• History of Spain's Arabic Past

This name is normally recognized as an Arabic, Hispanic or African American name.