Léon M'ba

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Léon M'ba, 1964

Léon M'ba (born February 9, 1902 in Libreville , † November 27, 1967 , November 28, 1967 in Paris or November 28, 1968 in Libreville) was the first president of the Central African state of Gabon from 1960 to 1967 .

Early years

He belonged to the Fang ethnic group , which lives mainly in northern Gabon and in the neighboring state of Equatorial Guinea . After attending Catholic mission schools from 1909 to 1918, he joined the French colonial administration as an accountant . He also worked as a journalist for Echos Gabonais and founded various local newspapers. From 1920 he was secretary of the Gabon section of the League for Human Rights.

Politician

After founding the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) party in October 1946, he founded its branch for Gabon under the name Mouvement Mixte Gabonais (MMG). In 1953 the group was transformed into the Bloc Démocratique Gabonais (BDG). In 1951 he ran for the French National Assembly , but was beaten by Jean-Hilaire Aubame. M'ba became a Member of the Territorial Assembly in March 1952 and Mayor of Libreville in 1956. His BDG won the elections in March 1957, and since May 21, 1957 he has been deputy head of government. In July 1958 he became President of the Executive Council of Gabon. On February 27, 1959 he became Prime Minister and held the office until February 21, 1961. While some politicians like Barthélemy Boganda wanted to preserve the unity of the territories of French Equatorial Africa even after independence, M'ba stepped up for the full sovereignty of Gabon without close Ties to the poorer neighbors.

president

After independence from France, he became President on February 12, 1961. He continued to rely on good relations with France. On February 17 and 18, 1964, a military coup of young officers against M'ba took place, which was ended by the rapid deployment of French paratroopers on February 19. The coup plotters briefly installed M'ba's old rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, as head of a provisional government and imprisoned M'ba and other leading figures.

Léon M'ba was elected a second time in March 1967 and died a year and a half later as the incumbent. His successor was the previous Vice President Albert-Bernard Bongo , who ruled the country until 2009.

Trivia

  • Libreville Airport bears his name.
  • In 1968 the Foundation La fondation Léon M'ba for medical research was established in Paris .

literature

  • Ronald Segal: African Profiles . Prestel, Munich 1963 (original title: African Prifies , translated by Norbert Kampf and Rotraut See), DNB 454637233 .
  • Stephan Löffler: Léon M'ba , in: Heinz Tillmann u. a. (Ed.) Biographies on World History , Lexicon, VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-326-00218-1 ; Federal German license edition: Pahl-Rugenstein , Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7609-1185-4 , p. 374f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria, p. 64 by Godfrey Mwakikagile , accessed on February 23, 2015
  2. ^ Documents diplomatiques français from France. Commission des archives diplomatiques, accessed February 23, 2015
  3. ↑ Stephan Löffler in Biographies on World History . VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, p. 374 f.
personal data
SURNAME M'ba, Léon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first President of Gabon
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Libreville
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1967 or November 28, 1967 or November 28, 1968
Place of death Paris or Libreville