Louis Lansana Beavogui (; 28 December 1923 – 19 August 1984) was a

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

n politician. He was

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

from 1972 to 1984 and was briefly

interim President An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, resignation or removal ...

in 1984.

Background and political career

Beavogui, a member of the

Toma Toma or TOMA may refer to: Places *Toma, Burkina Faso, a town in Nayala province * Toma Department, a department in Nayala province *Toma, Banwa, Burkina Faso, a town * Tōma, Hokkaidō, Japan, a town **Tōma Station, its railway station *Toma, a ...

ethnic group,Thomas O'Toole and Janice E. Baker, ''Historical Dictionary of Guinea'' (4th edition, 2005), Scarecrow Press, page lxiv. was born in Macenta, located in southern Guinea. He was trained as a medical doctor at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy in the

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese city of

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

to become a medic. He first worked as an assistant medical officer in

Guéckédou Guéckédou or Guékédou is a town in southern Guinea near the Sierra Leone and Liberian borders. It had a population of 79,140 (as of the 1996 census) but has grown in the 21st century due to refugees fleeing the Second Liberian Civil War and th ...

and then as a medical officer in

Kissidougou Kissidougou (; pronounced like Kiss-eh-dow-goo) is a city in southern Guinea. It is the capital of in the Kissidougou Prefecture. As of 2014 it had a population of 102,675 people. The town is served by Kissidougou Airport, and the Niandan ri ...

. His political career began in 1953 as a town councillor. He was elected as Mayor of

when he was 31 years old in 1954, and elected to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

in January 1956 as one of three deputies representing

French Guinea French Guinea () was a French colonial possession in West Africa. Its borders, while changed over time, were in 1958 those of the current independent nation of Guinea. French Guinea was established by France in 1891, within the same borders as ...

. Under President

Ahmed Sékou Touré Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary ...

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

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in 1961. In 1961 he represented Guinea at the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. After the Guinean government allowed

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

, the ousted President of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

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

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

while he was on his way to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

for a conference of the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

in October 1966. He remained Foreign Minister until May 1969, when he was moved back to his position as Minister of Economic Affairs.''Historical Dictionary of Guinea'', page 28. At the end of the Ninth Congress of the ruling

Democratic Party of Guinea Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

(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. Per the Constitution, Beavogui by virtue of being prime minister became interim president. A week later, on 3 April, the PDG's Politburo was due to select a new leader. Beavogui, a close friend of Touré, was widely expected to succeed him. Under the Constitution, since the PDG was the sole legally permitted party, the newly elected leader would have been automatically elected to a seven-year term as president, and would have been confirmed in office via a referendum the following spring. Thus, had Beavogui been elected as the PDG's leader, he would have been all but assured of becoming president in his own right. During his brief presidency, he said goodbye to his predecessor at his funeral. Lansana Beavogui spoke at a mourning rally at the Palais du Peuple on March 28, met with many delegations who arrived for the funeral at the airport, read a farewell speech at Sékou Touré's funeral on March 30. However, hours before the meeting was to begin, Colonel

Lansana Conté Lansana Conté (; 30 November 1934 – 22 December 2008

and Lieutenant Colonel

Diarra Traoré Diarra Traoré (1935 – 8 July 1985) was a Guinean soldier and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guinea briefly in 1984 as a member of a junta led by Lansana Conté. In 1985, after Traoré attempted a coup d'état against President C ...

led a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

which toppled the government. The PDG was dissolved, and the Constitution was suspended. Following the coup, Beavogui was imprisoned in

Kindia Kindia ( N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, located about northeast of the nation's capital, Conakry. Its estimated population in 2008 was 181,126. Kindia serves as the capital and largest city of Kindia Prefecture ...

prison until being taken to

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

for medical treatment."Jul 1985 - Government changes - Foreign and economic policy of military government - Release of detained members of former regime - Attempted coup"
''Keesing's Record of World Events'', Volume 31, July, 1985 Guinea, Page 33709. He died of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

''West Africa Annual''
(13th edition, 1996), page 188. while hospitalized in Conakry in August 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beavogui, Louis Lansana 1923 births 1984 deaths Presidents of Guinea Prime ministers of Guinea Ministers of foreign affairs of Guinea Economy ministers of Guinea Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Mayors of places in Guinea Guinean diplomats Leaders ousted by a coup Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally politicians People from Nzérékoré Region Diabetes-related deaths Guinean expatriates in Senegal Heads of government who were later imprisoned 20th-century Guinean politicians

Background and political career

Interim presidency and military coup

See also

References