Gnassingbe Eyadema
1935 – 2005 Togolese president of Togo, army officer
Togo's ruler for 38 years, a former French army soldier who took part in the 1963 killing of President Olympio and seized full power in 1967.
- Affiliations
- Rally of the Togolese People, Togolese army
Gnassingbe Eyadema was a Togolese soldier who had served in the French army in Indochina and Algeria before joining the group of veterans who overthrew and killed President Sylvanus Olympio in 1963; he later claimed to have fired the fatal shots. He took full control in a 1967 coup and ruled Togo until his death in 2005, building a personality cult and a single-party state while keeping close ties to France. His long rule was marked by repression of opponents and disputed elections. When he died, the military installed his son Faure Gnassingbe, extending the family's hold on power.
Connections
- rival of Sylvanus Olympio — Eyadema took part in the coup that killed Olympio and later claimed to have fired the shots.
- rival of Sylvanus Olympio — Took part in the 1963 coup that killed Olympio and later claimed to have fired the shots.
In the timeline
- 1960 Independence of Togo army veteran who later seized power
- 1963 Togo's president Sylvanus Olympio is assassinated took part in the coup; later claimed to have fired the shots
- 1963 Sylvanus Olympio assassinated in Lome coup mentioned