Paulin Freitas

Paulin Freitas (born December 3, 1909 in Lomé , † May 17, 1989 in Abidjan ) was a Togolese politician and diplomat.

Life

Paulin Freitas came from the ruling family of Aného . He trained as a teacher and ran the normal school in Atakpamé . In 1946 he was elected to the parliament of French Togoland for the Comité de l'unité Togoland (CUT) party. In the 1958 elections, the CUT won a majority and Freitas was appointed to the government of Prime Minister Sylvanus Olympio as Minister of State for Interior, Information and Press. He held this post until Togo's independence from France on April 27, 1960. In the government that was subsequently formed by the then President Sylvanus Olympio, Freitas became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. On January 13, 1963, Olympio was murdered in a military coup . Paulin Freitas refused to cooperate with the new rulers and was arrested and tortured. His successor as Foreign Minister was Georges Apedo-Amah . In May 1963, Freitas was released and left the country. He then worked as an expert for UNESCO in Zaire and Paris . In 1978 he returned to Togo. Traumatized by his experiences on January 13, 1963 and suffering from heart problems, Freitas died in 1989. He was buried in the cemetery on Lomé Beach.

Honors

• Commander of the Ordre du Mono

Web links

• Paulin FREITAS . Biography on the website of Diaspora Togolaise pour la Démocratie et le Développement (PDF file; French)