Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978) was Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville from 2 August 1961 to 30 June 1964, succeeding Joseph Ileo and preceding Moise Tshombe.
Biography[]
Cyrille Adoula was born in Leopoldville, Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo) on 13 September 1921 to a Bangala-speaking family. Adoula went to Catholic school before becoming a clerk for various commercial firms, and he worked at the Belgian Congo Central Bank. In 1954, Adoula joined the Belgian Socialist Party, and he became a renowned labor unionist in the Congo. He attended the 1957 International Labor Conference, became Secretary-General of the General Federation's western chapter, and travelled to West Germany and Israel to speak with fellow unionists. In 1958, Adoula, Patrice Lumumba, and Joseph Ileo founded the Congolese National Movement (MNC), and he remained moderate while Lumumba became a nationalist. In 1959, Adoula and Albert Kalonji failed to oust Lumumba from the MNC, and he later became a Senator of Congo-Leopoldville when Belgium granted the Congo its independence. Adoula distanced himself from Lumumba while lobbying for United Nations support in quelling the Katanga rebellion, and Adoula became Minister of the Interior under Prime Minister Joseph Ileo's government after Lumumba's overthrow and execution.
Prime Minister of the Congo[]
Adoula was seen as a liberal and anti-communist alternative to a Lumumbist, so he was the CIA's favored candidate for Prime Minister. The CIA bribed politicians to support Adoula as the new prime minister, and US Secretary of State Dean Rusk instructed the CIA to ensure that Adoula became the new prime minister. From 1961 to 1964, he served as Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville, balancing his cabinet with Lumumba supporters with the goal of uniting the Congo. At the end of 1961, several Lumumbists under Antoine Gizenga formed the rival Congo-Stanleyville government, and Adoula managed to arrest Gizenga and many of his supporters in 1962, getting rid of much of the government. In 1964, the rise of leftist insurrections such as the Simba Rebellion led to Adoula resigning, and he served as ambassador to the United States and Belgium under Mobutu Sese Seko. From 1969 to 1970, he served as Foreign Minister of the Congo, and he died of a heart attack in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 May 1978 at the age of 56 while seeking medical attention.