Patrice Lumumba (2 July 1925–17 January 1961) was Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville from 24 June to 14 September 1960, preceding Joseph Ileo. Lumumba was known for his nationalist views and socialist sympathies, and he was executed after a Belgian-backed coup in 1960 during the Congo Crisis.
Biography[]
Patrice Lumumba was born on 2 July 1925 in Katakokombe, Belgian Congo, Belgium to a family of Tetela. Lumumba worked as a postal clerk and a beer salesman before becoming involved in the independence movement in the Congo, and in 1958 he founded the Mouvement National Congolais after being imprisoned for embezzlement by Belgium. Lumumba was different from other politicians of the newly-independent Congo-Leopoldville in that he was not friendly towards King Baudouin of Belgium when he gave the Congo independence, saying that he fought for it. On 24 June 1960, he was the first democratically-elected Congolese Prime Minister, and he decided to align himself with the Soviet Union in return for financial, medical, humanitarian, and military assistance against the rebellious Katanga region. On 14 September 1960, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and his Chief-of-Staff Joseph-Desire Mobutu had Lumumba imprisoned for his controversial pro-communist stances, and on 17 January 1961 he was executed by firing squad, probably at the behest of the United States' CIA.