Blackwell Reference Online

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Born in Wembonya village in Katoko-Kombe District of Sankuru, in the Province of Kasai, Patrice Lumumba received primary education in a Catholic school until the age of 14, when he opted for Protestant education against his father's wishes. Under Protestant tutelage, Lumumba was introduced to European liberal and socialist ideas, including the works of Sartre and Karl Marx, which may have influenced his political thought.Lumumba began his career as a clerk in Kindu and later joined the postal service in Stanleyville (now Kisangani). His political career gradually began at Stanleyville when he founded the Post Office Workers' Society and became general secretary of the Association of Native Public Servants. After serving a one-year jail term on trumped-up embezzlement charges, he moved to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) where he worked successfully as a manager in a brewing company. It was in Leopoldville that he came to national prominence as a nationalist in 1956, calling for immediate independence for the Congo.Following Joseph Kasavubu's pioneering efforts in 1956 in calling for independence on the platform of his Alliance des Ba-Kongo (ABAKO), in August 1958 Lumumba founded and led the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) to work for immediate independence. Of all the major parties in the Congo at this period, only Lumumba's MNC had a nationalist outlook, as the other parties were ... log in or subscribe to read full text