Moïse Tshombe
Congolese politician and secessionist leader (1919–1969) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Moïse Kapenda Tshombe (sometimes written Tshombé) (10 November 1919 – 29 June 1969) was a Congolese businessman and politician. He served as the president of the secessionist State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and as prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1964 to 1965.
Moïse Tshombe | |
---|---|
5th Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
In office 10 July 1964 – 13 October 1965 | |
President | Joseph Kasa-Vubu |
Preceded by | Cyrille Adoula |
Succeeded by | Évariste Kimba |
President of Katanga | |
In office 11 July 1960 – 21 January 1963 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 November 1919 Musumba, Belgian Congo |
Died | 29 June 1969(1969-06-29) (aged 49) El Biar, Algiers, Algeria |
Political party | CONAKAT CONACO |
Tshombe was born to an aristocratic Lunda family and ran several businesses in Katanga Province before becoming involved in politics, cofounding the pro-Western, anti-communist CONAKAT party in 1958 and advocating for autonomy for Katanga province. Following the Congo's accession to independence in June 1960, Tshombe became president of the autonomous province, and soon came into conflict with the central government's leftist prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Accusing Lumumba of communist sympathies, Tshombe declared Katanga's independence as the breakaway State of Katanga, contributing to the Congo Crisis. Following Lumumba's overthrow and execution, the Katanga rebellion was suppressed in 1963, forcing Tshombe into exile. The following year, he was made prime minister of the country as part of a new coalition government against the Simba rebellion by Lumumba's supporters. In 1965, he founded the CONACO alliance, which comfortably won the March and April general elections. However, he was dismissed as Prime Minister in October of that year, being replaced by Évariste Kimba. Following the November 1965 coup which ended the Congo Crisis, he was charged with treason and was forced into exile again. He died four years later.