Sylvanus Olympio
Encyclopedia
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
lese political figure who served as Prime Minister, and then President, of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963.
Political career
Olympio served as the Prime Minister of Togo from 1958 to 1961, during which time he held elections to consolidate his power. He then served as the first President of Togo between 1961 and 1963, obtaining seats in an election that barred Nicolas GrunitzkyNicolas Grunitzky
Nicolas Grunitzky was the third president of Togo. He was President from 1963 to 1967.-Biography:He was born in Atakpamé to a German father and a Togolese mother. He studied civil engineering at the ESTP in Paris and was a public administrator before leaving to form his own company...
's party. Opposition leaders, such as Anani Santos, Antoine Meatchi
Antoine Meatchi
Antoine Meatchi was a Togolese politician. He was Vice President of Togo under Nicolas Grunitzky following the 1963 coup which overthrew Sylvanus Olympio.-References:...
and Nicolas Grunitzky
Nicolas Grunitzky
Nicolas Grunitzky was the third president of Togo. He was President from 1963 to 1967.-Biography:He was born in Atakpamé to a German father and a Togolese mother. He studied civil engineering at the ESTP in Paris and was a public administrator before leaving to form his own company...
were either jailed in Mango prison or exiled to 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...
and Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
. Using "Ablode Sodja" militia, the president squashed political dissent.
During his presidency, Olympio pursued a pro-Western foreign policy. At one point, he visited the United States and had a friendly meeting with President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Togo maintained friendly relations with most of its neighbors, but relations with neighboring Ghana and its leader 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...
were consistently poor. Within the country, each state supported the other's dissidents.
Assassination
Olympio was assassinated in a military coup d'étatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
on January 13, 1963. The coup, considered the first African coup d'état, sent shock waves through Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Col. Étienne Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
General Gnassingbé Eyadéma , was the President of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005. He participated in two successful military coups, in January 1963 and January 1967, and became President on April 14, 1967...
, a participant in the coup who later assumed the presidency in 1967 and held it until his death in 2005, claimed to have personally fired the shot which killed Olympio. According to other sources, however, the head of the group of soldiers was Sergeant Emmanuel Bodjollé
Emmanuel Bodjollé
Emmanuel Bodjollé was Chairman of the nine-member Insurrection Committee that overthrew the government of former Togolese President Sylvanus Olympio on 13 January 1963....
, Eyadema was not even a sergeant at the time.
Aftermath
Sylvanus Olympio was succeeded by Emmanuel BodjolléEmmanuel Bodjollé
Emmanuel Bodjollé was Chairman of the nine-member Insurrection Committee that overthrew the government of former Togolese President Sylvanus Olympio on 13 January 1963....
, head of an "Insurrection Committee" that ruled for only two days after which Nicolas Grunitzky
Nicolas Grunitzky
Nicolas Grunitzky was the third president of Togo. He was President from 1963 to 1967.-Biography:He was born in Atakpamé to a German father and a Togolese mother. He studied civil engineering at the ESTP in Paris and was a public administrator before leaving to form his own company...
was put in charge.
His son, Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio is a Togolese politician and the President of the Union of Forces for Change , the country's main opposition party. Since the late 1970s, Mr...
, is currently the most prominent opposition leader in Togo.