Lumumba

Updated short biography of Patrice Lumumba, the pivotal leader of the Congo's independence movement and a major force in post-colonial African politics.

This book explores the life of Patrice Lumumba (1926-61), the iconic leader of the Congo’s independence movement and a symbol of anti-imperialist struggle. Revised with new intelligence archives, it traces his transition from nationalist to revolutionary and details the crisis that exposed Western colonialism.

Patrice Lumumba had been prime minister of the newly liberated Congo for only seven months at the time of his assassination in 1961. As news of his execution spread, his image was brandished in demonstrations around the world along with those of Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. He would go on to become an icon of anti-imperialist struggle and perhaps the most famous leader of the African independence movement. Lumumba’s life and the freedom that he sought for the Congo exposed ongoing Western colonialism and the problematic nature of the independence granted to huge swathes of the globe after 1945.

Leo Zeilig’s concise, direct biography tells the story of the Congo in the dying days of colonialism; of Lumumba’s transition from nationalist, to revolutionary, to international symbol of African liberation; and of the role of Western powers in his murder.