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Era
GlossaryCongolese National Movement (MNC)

Patrice Lumumba

Patrice Lumumba

Congo's first prime minister: one speech made him the empire's target

“History will one day have its say… Africa will write its own history.” — last letter to his wife from prison, 1960

Independence leader and first prime minister of the Congo. His unscheduled 1960 independence-day speech indicting colonial violence before King Baudouin made him a global symbol; within three months he was deposed and the following year killed with CIA and Belgian complicity.

Career timeline
  • 1958Founds the Congolese National Movement
  • 1960.05Wins the first elections; first prime minister
  • 1960.06The unscheduled independence-day speech indicting colonial rule
  • 1960.09Deposed and confined by Mobutu's coup
  • 1961.01Flown to Katanga and killed, with CIA and Belgian complicity