Gregoire Kayibanda
Source: Wikipedia: Grégoire Kayibanda
Statesmanship & Statesmen • Historical Archive • 🇷🇼 Ruanda-Urundi (Belgian Mandate) • 0 views

Gregoire Kayibanda 🇷🇼

Grégoire Kayibanda
["President of Rwanda", "Journalist", "Leader of the 1959 Revolution"]
Born May 01, 1924 🇷🇼 Tare (Gitarama), Ruanda-Urundi (Belgian Mandate)
Passed Away Dec 15, 1976 Kavumu, Rwanda
Lifespan 52 years old
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Notice / Correction
"True democracy cannot exist where the vast majority of people are treated as landless serfs in their own country."

Archival Overview

First President of Rwanda who authored the Bahutu Manifesto in 1957, led the 1959 social revolution ending the centuries-old Tutsi monarchy, and achieved national independence in 1962.

Biographical Record

Gregoire Kayibanda (1924–1976) worked as a Catholic newspaper editor before publishing the historic 'Bahutu Manifesto' in 1957, demanding an end to Belgian-backed feudal aristocratic monopolies. In 1959, he founded the MDR-Parmehutu party, leading the 'wind of destruction' social revolution that abolished the mwami (kingship).

Elected President upon national independence in July 1962, Kayibanda established a republic. In July 1973, he was overthrown in a military coup by his defense minister Juvenal Habyarimana, who imprisoned Kayibanda and his wife in a secret house where they were starved to death.

Key Life Milestones

1957

Publication of the Bahutu Manifesto

Penned the manifesto demanding democratic representation and social rights for the majority population.

1962

Independence and First President of Rwanda

Lowered the Belgian flag on July 1, 1962, inaugurating the first Republic of Rwanda.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Kavumu Memorial Grounds
Gitarama (Muhanga), Rwanda
GPS: -2.0833, 29.7500
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