Francisco Mendes

Francisco Mendes (1973)

Grave for Francisco Mendes at the monument to the heroines and heroes in Bissau

Francisco João Mendes , called Chico Té or Tchico Té (born February 7, 1939 in Enxude , Portuguese Guinea ; † July 7, 1978 near Bafatá , Guinea-Bissau ) was a Guinea-Bissau resistance fighter and a high official of the PAIGC . From 1973 to 1978 Mendes held the post of Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau.

Life

Francisco Mendes was born on February 7, 1939 in the small town of Enxude in the southern Quinara region in what was then the Portuguese colony of Guinea. In 1960 Mendes joined the PAIGC resistance and independence movement. Together with nine other Guinea-Bissau resistance fighters (including Osvaldo Vieira , Domingos Ramos , Constantino Teixeira, etc.), the PAIGC leadership sent Mendes to military training at the Nanjing Military Academy in the People's Republic of China in 1961. After his return, Mendes was responsible for mobilizing the population around Bafatá , and in 1964 the PAIGC leadership appointed Mendes as the leading head of the northern front.

During the first PAIGC congress in Cassacá in 1964, the delegates elected Mendes as a member of the movement's political bureau . A year later, he was appointed a member of the Council of War ( Conselho da Guerra ) and was responsible, among other things, for military logistics. In 1972 he was appointed a member of the Combat Executive Committee ( Comité Executivo da Luta ).

After Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence on September 24, 1973, Mendes became the country's first Prime Minister with the title Comissário Principal (First Commissioner).

Francisco Mendes died on July 7, 1978 in a car accident near Bafatá. Francisco Mendes is one of the heroines and heroes named and glorified by the PAIGC. In the headquarters of the Guinea-Bissau Army ( Fort Amura ) in the capital Bissau there is a memorial for 10 Guinea-Bissau heroines and heroes, Mendes is also remembered there by name. Furthermore, the former, now closed airport of Praia (Cape Verde) was named after Francisco Mendes.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Mendes, Francisco "Tchico Te" (1939–1978) . In: Peter Karibe Mendy, Richard A. Lobban, Jr. (Eds.): Historical dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau . 4th edition. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-8027-6 , pp. 269 .
2. ↑ 30 anos de “Francisco Mendes” ( Memento of October 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), A semana online, October 5, 2005

Web links

Commons : Francisco Mendes  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files