Who was Patrice Lumumba?
Patrice Emery Lumumba b. July 2, 1925, Onalua, Belgian Congo [now Congo (Kinshasa)] d. January 1961, Katanga province African nationalist leader, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (June-September 1960). Forced out of office during a political crisis, he was assassinated a short time later. Lumumba was born in the village of Onalua in Kasai province, Belgian Congo. He was a member of the small Batetela tribe, a fact that was to become significant in his later political life. His two principal rivals, Moise Tshombe, who led the breakaway of the Katanga province, and Joseph Kasavubu, who later became the nation’s president, both came from large, powerful tribes from which they derived their major support, giving their political movements a regional character. In contrast, Lumumba’s movement emphasized its all-Congolese nature. After attending a Protestant mission school, Lumumba went to work in Kindu-Port-Empain, where he became active in the club of the évo
