Patrice Lumumba
World Leader
After founding the Mouvement National Congolais political party, this fighter for Congolese independence from Belgian rule became the Republic of the Congo's first Prime Minister to be elected through a democratic process. He was killed months later, after a military coup seized power.
During the mid-1950s, he became a member of the Liberal Party of Belgium. Several years later, he was a founder of the Mouvement National Congolais.
At one point believed by the United States government to have communist ties, he was the object of a failed CIA assassination plot.
His marriage to Pauline Opangu Lumumba resulted in five children, including a son, Guy-Patrice Lumumba, who pursued a political career.
He was imprisoned and executed under the corrupt regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko.