Louis Rwagasore

Grave of Louis Rwagasore

Louis Rwagasore (born January 10, 1932 in Kitega , † October 13, 1961 ) was Ganwa Prince of the Kingdom of Burundi and a politician.

The son of the penultimate Burundian king, Mwambutsa IV. Bangiriceng , founded the UPRONA , which was to become the most important party in the country (albeit not in the form in which it was founded: at the beginning the party was open to all ethnic groups, later it changed to an extremist Tutsi party). He advocated independence from the Belgian colonial rulers . In 1961 he became Prime Minister after UPRONA had clearly won the parliamentary elections. Two weeks after the election, he was murdered by political opponents. His death is considered to be a decisive factor in the decades of violence Burundi has experienced since then.

The National Stadium of Burundi ( Stade Prince Louis Rwagasore ) today bears Rwagasore's name.

literature

• Helmut Strizek (1996): Rwanda and Burundi: From Independence to State Collapse , World Forum, Cologne; ISBN 3-8039-0451-X
• Bruno Holtz (1973): Burundi: Genocide or Suicide? Imba, Freiburg; ISBN 3-85740-033-1

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary dated October 13, 1961 (Dutch)