Editing Pascal Lissouba

{{Short description|Congolese politician (1931–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2008}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Pascal Lissouba
| native_name         = 
| native_name_lang    = 
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Visit of Pascal Lissouba, President of Congo, to the EC (cropped).jpg
| imagesize           = 200px
| smallimage          = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Lissouba in 1995
| order               = 
| office              = 6th [[List of heads of state of the Republic of the Congo|President of the Republic of Congo]]
| term_start          = 31 August 1992
| term_end            = 25 October 1997
| alongside           = <!--For two or more people serving in the same position from the same district. (e.g. United States Senators.)-->
| vicepresident       = 
| primeminister       = [[André Milongo]]<br />[[Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra]]<br />[[Claude Antoine Dacosta]]<br />[[Joachim Yhombi-Opango]]<br />[[Charles David Ganao]]
| succeeding          = <!--For President-elect or equivalent-->
| predecessor         = Denis Sassou Nguesso
| successor           = [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]]
| order2              = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number-->
| office2             = [[List of heads of government of the Republic of the Congo|Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo]]
| term_start2         = 24 December 1963
| term_end2           = 15 April 1966
| vicepresident2      = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number-->
| viceprimeminister2  = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number-->
| president2          = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number-->
| predecessor2        = [[Alphonse Massamba-Débat]]
| successor2          = [[Ambroise Noumazalaye]]
| constituency2       = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number-->
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1931|11|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = Tsinguidi, [[French Congo]], [[French Equatorial Africa]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2020|08|24|1931|11|15|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Perpignan]], France
| restingplace        = 
| restingplacecoordinates = 
| citizenship         = 
| nationality         = 
| party               = [[Pan-African Union for Social Democracy]] (from 1991)
| otherparty          = [[National Movement of the Revolution]] (1964–1969)
| spouse              = Annette Chantegreil<br />[[Jocelyne Rosdam]]
| partner             = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| alma_mater          = [[University of Paris]]
| occupation          = 
| profession          = 
| cabinet             = 
| committees          = 
| portfolio           = 
| religion            = 
| signature           = 
| signature_alt       = 
| website             = 
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Pascal Lissouba''' (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2020/08/24/l-ancien-president-congolais-pascal-lissouba-est-mort_6049780_3212.html|title = L'Ancien président congolais Pascal Lissouba est mort|newspaper = Le Monde.fr|date = 24 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1033118/politique/congo-brazzaville-pascal-lissouba-est-decede/| title = Congo-Brazzaville : l'ancien président Pascal Lissouba est décédé en France – Jeune Afrique}}</ref> was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected [[List of presidents of the Republic of the Congo|President]] of the [[Republic of the Congo]] and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by his predecessor and current president [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]] in the [[Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997–1999)|1997 civil war]].

== Early life and education ==
Lissouba was born in Tsinguidi, south-west Congo, to [[Nzebi|Bandjabi]] parents. He attended primary school in [[Mossendjo]] and [[Boko District|Boko]].<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.consulatgeneralcongo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=167|language=fr|date=17 August 2014|title=Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville|publisher=Consulate General of Congo in Tunis}}</ref> He began his secondary studies in [[Brazzaville]] and gained his education at the Lycée Félix Faure in [[Nice]] (1948–52), where he obtained a [[Baccalauréat|baccalaureate]].<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" /> He then studied [[Agronomy]] at the ''École Supérieure d'Agriculture'' in [[Tunis]] and secured a diploma in agricultural engineering in 1956. At the [[University of Paris]] (1958–61) he received a doctoral degree in biology.<ref>{{cite book |date=2010 |title=Encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0XNvklcqbwC&q=Pascal+Lissouba+1931&pg=RA1-PA60 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=60 |isbn=978-0-195-33770-9 }}</ref> He was also a fellow trainee at the [[Centre national de la recherche scientifique|National Center for Scientific Research]] (CNRS) in Paris and at ORSTOM. In June 1961, he worked as a researcher at [[Institut de recherche pour le développement|ORSTOM]]. He was appointed lecturer in plant biology by decree of the [[Ministry of National Education (France)|French Ministry of National Education]] on 3 November 1961.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" />

== Political career ==
Initially he was a civil servant, working as a managing director in the Department of Agriculture (1962–63), having returned in 1962.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" /> But his abilities advanced him to become Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, and Forestry on 16 August 1963<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" /> until 1966 and then Prime Minister (1963–66) under President [[Alphonse Massamba-Débat]].<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997">{{cite web|url=https://www.humanite.fr/node/159816|language=fr|date=9 June 1997|title=Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant|publisher=Humanité}}</ref> He was appointed Minister of State for Planning, then for Agriculture (1968–1969), before being sacked by the government.<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997" /> Afterwards, he became a genetics professor at the [[Marien Ngouabi University|University of Brazzaville]] (1966–1971) and later director of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences in 1970.<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997" /> When Massamba-Débat was overthrown in 1968 Lissouba remained in government under [[Marien Ngouabi]] 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 was arrested. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour in 1977.<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997" /> 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<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997" /> at the University of Paris and then worked for [[UNESCO]] in Paris and [[Nairobi]]. When President [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]] was forced to move the Congo towards democracy in 1991, Lissouba returned in February 1992<ref name="Pascal Lissouba, le président sortant1997" /> and was elected president in the [[1992 Republic of the Congo presidential election|August 1992 elections]]. He secured 36% of the vote as head of the left-wing [[Pan-African Union for Social Democracy]] (''Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale'', UPADS). In the run-off with second-placed [[Bernard Kolelas]], 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]] and the [[Organisation of African Unity]] intervened, but sporadic fighting continued until January 1995.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

Fighting broke out again in June 1997 when Lissouba engaged militias loyal to former President Col. [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]] of the [[Congolese Labor Party]] (PCT) in [[Brazzaville]], accusing the former president of an attempted coup. Sassou Nguesso, however, was able to escape and stage a counterattack.<ref name="French 1997a">
{{cite news
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4DD103CF933A25755C0A961958260
|title=Army Fights Rebel Force To Control Brazzaville
|access-date=15 December 2008
|newspaper=The New York Times
|date=10 June 1997
|author=Howard W. French
}}
</ref> Thus began a 4-month [[Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997-99)|civil war]] that destroyed or damaged much of the capital. In early October 1997, [[Angola]]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]] fell with little resistance.<ref name="French 1997b">
{{cite news
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2DA153FF935A25753C1A961958260
|title=Rebels, Backed by Angola, Take Brazzaville and Oil Port
|access-date=16 December 2008
|newspaper=The New York Times
|date=16 October 1997
|author=Howard W. French
}}
</ref> Sassou Nguesso proclaimed himself President on 25 October 1997, but militia forces loyal to Lissouba continued a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] war. The vital [[Congo-Ocean Railway]] from the coastal city of [[Pointe-Noire]] was cut, and Brazzaville was heavily damaged before a cease-fire was agreed to in December 1999.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

== Exile and trial ==
Following his overthrow, Lissouba lived in exile in [[London]]. 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]] and [[Political corruption|corruption]], related to a $150 million oil deal with the American company [[Occidental Petroleum]].<ref name="BBC 2001">
{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1732822.stm
|title=Congolese ex-leader guilty of treason
|access-date=15 December 2008
|work=BBC News
|date=29 December 2001
}}</ref> Since 2004, he had been living in Paris in exile.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" />

== Personal life ==
He was first married to Annette Chantegreil (1933-2019), 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.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" />

== Death ==
Lissouba died in [[Perpignan]], [[France]], on 24 August 2020,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-Congo President Pascal Lissouba Dies At 88|url=https://sellbeta.com/blog/ex-congo-president-pascal-lissouba-dies-at-88/|access-date=24 August 2020|website=Sellbeta|date=24 August 2020|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027055047/https://sellbeta.com/blog/ex-congo-president-pascal-lissouba-dies-at-88/|url-status=dead}}</ref> due to complications from [[Alzheimer's disease]], aged 88.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://regionweek.com/former-congolese-president-pascal-lissouba-passed-away-at-88-in-france/ |title=Former Congolese President Pascal Lissouba passed away at 88 in France |access-date=24 August 2020 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824113604/https://regionweek.com/former-congolese-president-pascal-lissouba-passed-away-at-88-in-france/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Maurice Mavoungou]]
*[[Ferdinand Mbahou]]
*[[Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997-99)|Republic of the Congo Civil War]]
*[[Pan-African Union for Social Democracy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Alphonse Massamba-Débat]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo]]|years=1963&ndash;1966}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Ambroise Noumazalaye]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Denis Sassou Nguesso]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the Republic of the Congo]]|years=1992&ndash;1997}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Denis Sassou Nguesso]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{RCongoPres}}
{{RCongoPMs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lissouba, Pascal}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Agriculture ministers of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Forestry ministers of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Water ministers of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Republic of the Congo democracy activists]]
[[Category:People convicted of treason against the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Republic of the Congo prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Republic of the Congo exiles]]
[[Category:Pan-African Union for Social Democracy politicians]]
[[Category:Republic of the Congo expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Deaths from dementia in France]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease]]
[[Category:20th-century Republic of the Congo politicians]]