Sylvanus Olympio
First President of Togo · 1902–1963
Who is Sylvanus Olympio?
Sylvanus Olympio was a Togolese nationalist politician who became the first president of independent Togo. Born in Lomé in September 1902 into a prominent Ewe family with commercial ties across the region, he was educated in Togo, Ghana, and at the London School of Economics before working as a manager for the United Africa Company, giving him early experience in trade and administration across West Africa. He entered politics as a leader of the Comité de l'Unité Togolaise, campaigning for reunification of British and French Togoland and for full independence from colonial rule. In UN-supervised elections in 1958 his party won decisively, and he became prime minister, leading Togo to complete independence on 27 April 1960. He was elected president in 1961 under a constitution granting strong presidential powers. His rule grew increasingly centralized, and tensions rose with unintegrated veterans of the French colonial army whom he refused to absorb into Togo's small national force. On 13 January 1963 he was assassinated by a group of these veterans in a coup, the first successful military coup against a head of state in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa, a turning point often cited in the history of African political instability.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Sylvanus Olympio" · BlackPast.org, "Sylvanus Olympio (1902-1963)" · Wikipedia, "Sylvanus Olympio"