Gnassingbe Eyadema ( fr. Gnassingbé Eyadema ), until May 8, 1974 - Etienne Eyadema ( fr. Étienne Eyadéma ; December 26, 1935 or 1937 - February 5, 2005 ) - Togolese statesman, president of the Togolese Republic from April 14, 1967 to February 5, 2005 , managed to remain in this post until his death, for 38 years.
| Gnassingbe Eyadema | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fr. Gnassingbé eyadema | |||||||
 Gnassingbe Eyadema in 1972 | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Kleber Daggio | ||||||
| Successor | Fort Gnassingbe | ||||||
| Birth | December 26, 1935 or 1937 village Pia, Lama Cara | ||||||
| Death | February 5, 2005 | ||||||
| Burial place | village Pia [1] | ||||||
| Children | sons: Fore | ||||||
| The consignment | Association of Togolese people | ||||||
| Profession | Military | ||||||
| Religion | |||||||
| Awards |
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He participated in two successful military coups - in January 1963 and January 1967. The anti - communist one - party regime of the party Unification of the Togolese people was created with the persecution of political opponents and the cult of personality of the president.
Biography
Born in the village of Pius, Lamacar County, Togo French Mandate Territory. He came from the Kabye tribe. Since 1953 he served in the French army. He fought in Vietnam (in 1954-1955), Algeria (in 1956 and 1959-1960), Dahomey (now Benin ) and Niger. Since 1961, in the service of the armed forces of Togo. He participated in a military coup on January 13, 1963 (the first coup in the modern history of independent African states south of the Sahara), during which, according to one version, he personally killed President Silvanus Olimpio . After the coup, he was promoted to officer and made a quick military career [2] .
In 1965 he received the rank of lieutenant colonel and was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the army. January 13, 1967 made a military coup , after which he became a dictator , head of state and Minister of Defense. December 1, 1967 appropriated the rank of army general [2] . He dissolved the government and parliament, repealed the constitution, and banned all political parties. In 1969, he founded and became the chairman of the ruling and only party in the country, the Association of Togolese people (the name of the first party of President Charles de Gaulle - “The Association of the French People” was taken as the basis).
September 24-25, 1986 suppressed an attempted coup, in which the son of the 1st President of the country S. Olimpio Gilcri Olympio played an active role.
During the reign of the country, the cult of Eyadema was formed. January 24 (on this day in 1974 the president survived a plane crash, the only one on board) was declared the “Victory Day over the forces of evil” in the country, since Eyadema considered the plane crash an attempted attempt on his life. The president insisted that this event proves that he is a special person with supernormal abilities [3] .
In 1991, under the pressure of popular unrest for several weeks, Eyadema was forced to announce the beginning of an era of reform. The country allowed the activities of political parties, introduced amendments to the constitution, limiting the tenure of one person to the presidency for two five-year terms. At the same time, they lowered the age barrier for candidates (so that the son of Eyadema - Forn Gnassingbe could become president).
As a result of the intervention of the army, which was personally devoted to him, in October-December 1991 he managed to neutralize by force political opponents and retain power [3] .
He was chairman of the Economic Community of West African Countries ( ECOWAS ) in 1980-1981 and 1984-1985. In 1981, he chaired the non-aggression and assistance to defense (ANAD) inter-African organization [2] . Eyadema was chairman of the Organization of African Unity from 2000 to 2001 .
In 2002, when Eyadema's second “constitutional” presidential term was ending, the parliament lifted constitutional restrictions and asked him to run for president again. Eyadema, according to his then prime minister, “decided once again to sacrifice himself for the sake of the nation” and agreed. He won the 2003 election again.
He died of a heart attack on board the presidential Boeing 707, 250 km south of the capital of Tunisia. His funeral took place on March 13, 2005 . The presidents of African countries attended: Mathieu Kereku from Benin , John Kufuor from Ghana , Laurent Gbagbo from Côte d'Ivoire , Mamadou Tanja from Niger and Olusegun Obasanjo from Nigeria . International politicians also attended the funeral [4] .
His son, For Gnassingbe (born 1966), was proclaimed the new head of state after the death of his father and is still the current president of the Republic.
Notes
- ↑ Ghana mourns President Eyadema // Ghana News
- ↑ 1 2 3 Who is who ..., 1990 , p. 539.
- ↑ 1 2 Kusov V.G. Gnassingbe Eyadema: Togo President, Biography and Government , // Rulers of Africa: XXI Century. Date of treatment July 30, 2018.
- ↑ Helene Bailly. Le Togo fait ses adieux à Étienne Eyadéma Gnassingbé // Afrik.com
Literature
- Eyadema, Gnassingbe // Who is who in world politics / Editorial: Kravchenko L.P. (editor-in-chief), etc. - M .: Politizdat , 1990. - P. 539 . - ISBN 5-250-00513-6 .
- Feuillet C. Le Togo "en general". Le longue marche de Gnassibgbe Eyadema. - Paris, 1976.
- Togo. Dix ans de redressement politique et economique (13 janvier 1967 - 13 janvier 1977). // Europe autremor. - 1976. - T. No. 561 .
Links
- Togo: La biographie non officielle d'Etienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Fr.) (link unavailable) . // Encyclopædia Universalis France SA (02/05/2013). Date of treatment April 8, 2013. Archived July 4, 2018.
- Who will succeed Omar Bongo? // Irinnews.org, 11 feb 2015.
- Daria Peach. Black snake. He fed enemies to crocodiles and stopped flying bullets // Lenta.ru , July 22, 2018.