Patrice Lumumba

In 1951, he married Pauline Opangu. The couple went on to have five children, the youngest of whom was born six months after Patrice Lumumba‘s death.

After his government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis, Lumumba along with a few other ministers from his newly formed independent government were arrested and tortured under the command of Katangan authorities. The men were then lined up against a tree and shot one at a time on 17 January 1961.

Patrice Lumumba was born as Élias Okit'Asombo on 2 July 1925 in Katakokombe, Belgian Congo, to François Tolenga Otetshima, and Julienne Wamato Lomendja. His father was a farmer. He had three brothers and one half-brother.

He received his primary education from a Catholic missionary school before moving on to the government post office training school, passing the one-year course with distinction.

He started writing articles for journals during his student days and developed an interest in political activism.

He started his career as a postal clerk in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) and soon moved to Stanleyville (now Kisangani). He also augmented his income by working as a travelling beer salesman.

Eventually he became an accountant in the post office. All this while, he maintained his involvement with the Congolese press for which he regularly wrote articles on political issues.

Lumumba became regional head of the Cercles of Stanleyville and joined the Liberal Party of Belgium in 1955. He primarily worked on editing and distributing party literature.

He was on a study tour to Belgium in 1955 when he was arrested on charges of embezzlement and sentenced to two years in prison. But his sentence was commuted to twelve months and he was released in July 1956.

He became more involved in politics upon his release and in 1958 he played a key role in the founding of the broad-based Mouvement national congolais (MNC). He was later chosen as the organization’s president.

Patrice Lumumba served as the Prime Minister of the Congo for only 81 days, but he left an indelible mark in the modern political history of Africa. He was a principled man of strong character who lived and died for the values he believed in. He supported pan-Africanism and liberation for colonial territories.