Pascal Lissouba (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020) was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by the former and current President

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as ...

in the 1997 civil war.

Early life and education

Lissouba was born in Tsinguidi, south-west Congo, to Bandjabi parents. He attended primary school in Mossendjo and Boko. He began his secondary studies in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CL ...

and gained his education at the Lycée Félix Faure in Nice (1948–52), where he obtained a baccalaureate. He then studied

Agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and s ...

at the ''École Supérieure d'Agriculture'' in

Tunis Tunis ( ar, تونس ') is the capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

and secured a diploma in agricultural engineering in 1956. At the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

(1958–61) he received a doctoral degree in Biology. He was also a fellow trainee at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris and at ORSTOM. In June 1961, he worked as a researcher at ORSTOM. He was appointed lecturer in vegetal biology, by a French Ministry of National Education decree on 3 November 1961.

Political career

Initially he was a civil servant, working as a managing director in the Department of Agriculture (1962–63), having returned in 1962. But his abilities advanced him to become Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, and Forestry on 16 August 1963 until 1966 and then Prime Minister (1963–66) under President

Alphonse Massamba-Débat Alphonse Massamba-Débat (February 11, 1921 – March 25, 1977) was a political figure of the Republic of the Congo who led the country from 1963 until 1968 in a one-party system. Biography Early life He was born in the small village of Nkolo, ...

. He was appointed Minister of State for Planning, then for Agriculture (1968–1969), before being sacked by the government. Afterwards, he became a genetics professor at the University of Brazzaville (1966–1971) and later director of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences in 1970. When Massamba-Débat was overthrown in 1968 Lissouba remained in government under

Marien Ngouabi Marien Ngouabi (or N'Gouabi) (December 31, 1938 – March 18, 1977) was the third President of the Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1969, to March 18, 1977. Biography Origins Marien Ngouabi was born in 1938 at the village of Ombellé, Cu ...

and although he was suspended from political activity from 1969 to 1971 he was on the Central Committee of the Congolese Workers Party in 1973. In 1977, he was implicated for involvement in the assassination of Ngouabi and arrested. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour in 1977. He was released in 1979 but had to live in exile in France from 1979 to 1990. In France, he was a professor of genetics at the University of Paris and then worked for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in Paris and

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

. When President

was forced to move the Congo towards democracy in 1991, Lissouba returned in February 1992 and was elected President in the August 1992 elections. He secured 36% of the vote as head of the left-wing

Pan-African Union for Social Democracy The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (french: Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale, UPADS) is a political party in the Republic of the Congo headed by Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. It has been the country' ...

(''Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale'', UPADS). In the run-off with second-placed

Bernard Kolelas Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

, Lissouba got 61% of the vote.

Unrest and civil war

Conflict soon broke out however. A coalition of opposition groups and their militias accused Lissouba of rigging the elections. Widespread civil war was averted when

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, ...

and the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

intervened, but sporadic fighting continued until January 1995. Fighting broke out again in June 1997 when Lissouba engaged militias loyal to former President Col.

of the

Congolese Labor Party The Congolese Party of Labour (french: Parti congolais du travail, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the Pe ...

(PCT) in

, accusing the former president of an attempted coup. Sassou Nguesso, however, was able to escape and stage a counterattack. Thus began a 4-month

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

that destroyed or damaged much of the capital. In early October 1997,

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n troops invaded Congo on the side of Sassou. Most of Brazzaville fell to rebel and Angolan forces on 14 October 1997, and Lissouba fled; within two days the capital was under the control of forces loyal to Sassou Nguesso, and

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

fell with little resistance. Sassou Nguesso proclaimed himself President on 25 October 1997, but militia forces loyal to Lissouba continued a guerrilla war. The vital Congo-Ocean Railway from the coastal city of

was cut, and Brazzaville was heavily damaged before a cease-fire was agreed to in December 1999.

Exile and trial

Following his overthrow, Lissouba lived in exile in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He intended to return to the Congo for the 2002 elections, but in December 2001 he was tried ''in absentia'' in Brazzaville, and sentenced to 30 years forced labor for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption ...

, related to a $150 million oil deal with the American company

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in th ...

. Since 2004, he had been living in Paris in exile.

Personal life

He was first married to Annette Chantegreil, then to Jocelyne Rosdam, a French national and is the father of eleven children. His eldest daughter, Mireille Lissouba, was his chief of staff from 1993 to 1996, while his younger daughter, Danielle Bineka is a university professor and writer, both currently exiled in Canada. His mother, Marie Bouanga died in 1996.

Death

Lissouba died in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, France, on 24 August 2020, due to complications from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

, aged 88.Former Congolese President Pascal Lissouba passed away at 88 in France
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References