Louis Lansana Beavogui was a Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

n politician. He was Prime Minister

Heads of government of Guinea

-List of Heads of Government of Guinea:-Affiliations:-See also:*Guinea**Heads of State of Guinea**Colonial Heads of Guinea*Lists of incumbents-External links:Government *...

 from 1972 to 1984 and was briefly interim President in 1984.

Background and political career

Beavogui, a member of the Toma

Toma

-Places:In Burkina Faso*Toma, Burkina Faso, town in Nayala province*Toma Department, department in Nayala province, Burkina Faso*Toma, Banwa, town in Burkina Faso*Toma Koura, village in Tansila Department of Banwa Province, Burkina FasoIn Japan...

 ethnic group, was born in Macenta

Macenta

Macenta is a town in southeastern Guinea, founded by the Toma people. Population 88,376 .-Geography:Macenta is the capital of the Macenta Prefecture in southeastern Guinea. It is located in the Guinea Highlands on the road from Nzérékoré to Guéckédou...

, located in southern Guinea, and he was trained in the Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

ese city of Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

 to become a medic. He was elected as Mayor of Kissidougou

Kissidougou

Kissidougou is a city in southern Guinea. It is the capital of in the Kissidougou Prefecture, and had a population of 66,018 in the 1996 census. Following intensified conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the fall and winter of 2000, many people from the city of Guéckédou fled to...

 when he was 31 years old, and he was elected to the National Assembly of France in January 1956 as one of three deputies representing French Guinea

French Guinea

French Guinea was a French colonial possession in West Africa. Its borders, while changed over time, were in 1958 those of the independent nation of Guinea....

. Under President Ahmed Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré was an African political leader and President of Guinea from 1958 to his death in 1984...

, Beavogui was appointed to the government as Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning when Guinea gained its independence in 1958, and he was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

 in 1961. After the Guinean government allowed Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...

, the ousted President of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, to live in exile in Guinea, the authorities in Ghana detained Beavogui at the airport in Accra

Accra

Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...

 while he was on his way to Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 for a conference of the Organization of African Unity in October 1966. He remained Foreign Minister until May 1969, when he was moved back to his position as Minister of Economic Affairs.

At the end of the Ninth Congress of the ruling Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) on 25 April 1972, President Touré said that Beavogui would become Prime Minister; that position had not previously existed. Beavogui served as Prime Minister from 26 April 1972 to 3 April 1984.

Interim Presidency and military coup

Touré died on 26 March 1984. Beavogui succeeded Touré and acted as interim President until 3 April, when he was deposed in a military coup led by Lansana Conté

Lansana Conté

Lansana Conté was the second President of Guinea from 3 April 1984 until his death. He was a Muslim and a member of the Susu ethnic group.-Early life:...

 and Diarra Traoré

Diarra Traoré

Diarra Traoré was a Guinean soldier and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guinea from 1984 to 1985 as a member of a junta led by Lansana Conté. In 1985, after an attempted coup d'état against him, Conté had Traoré executed....

.

Following the coup, Beavogui was imprisoned in Kindia

Kindia

Kindia is the third largest city in Guinea, lying about 85 miles north east of the nation's capital Conakry.Population 181,126 . - Overview :...

 until being taken to Conakry

Conakry

Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...

 for medical treatment. He died of diabetes while hospitalized in Conakry in August 1984.