Pauline Opango
Pauline Opango | |
---|---|
Born | Activist | January 1, 1937
Spouse | |
Children | 4 |
Pauline Opango Lumumba (January 1, 1937 – December 23, 2014), also known as Pauline Opangu, was a Congolese activist, and the wife of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was born in Wembonyama, Sankuru, Belgian Congo.[1][2]
Marriage
She married Patrice Lumumba on March 15, 1951, at the age of 14, was his third wife, bore him four children, Patrice, Juliana, Roland and Marie-Christine.[1][3][4][5] It was an at times difficult relationship, and the couple were separated by Patrice's imprisonment on more than one occasion. Pauline never remarried, reportedly because she was unable to "find someone else of the same quality".[2]
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba is one of the iconic figures in the
Patrice Lumumba helped to found the
Activism
Lumumba seemed to believe he would be killed, and wrote to Pauline encouraging her to carry on his work after his death.[6] The letter was never sent to her; it was recovered by journalists and Pauline learned about it in news reports.[7]
On February 14, 1961, Pauline marched through the African neighbourhoods of the city bare-breasted, accompanied by nearly 100 of her late husband's followers, to the
Aftermath
Threatened by her late husband's enemies, Pauline and her children sought safety at a UN camp in Leopoldville. She later moved to
Pauline Opango Lumumba lived the rest of her years in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On December 23, 2014, at the age of 77, Pauline died while sleeping in her home in Kinshasa, Congo.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Pinky Khoabane (2018-09-28). "Women Forgotten In The Shadow Of History: Pauline Lumumba". Uncensored Opinion. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
- ^ a b "A Tribute to Pauline Opango Lumumba". www.theburningspear.com.
- ^ a b c Adedeji Ademola, Why Patrice Lumumba's widow marched bare-breasted across Leopoldville in 1961, F2FA, January 17, 2019
- ^ ProQuest 115354981.
- ISBN 978-1-908323-95-8.[page needed]
- ^ "Letter from Thysville Prison to Mrs. Lumumba by Patrice Lumumba". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ^ a b Williams 2021, p. 393.
- ^ JSTOR 911189.
- JSTOR 949182.
- ^ Williams 2021, p. 392.
Works cited
- Williams, Susan (2021). White Malice : The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-5417-6829-1.