Michel Micombero

Michel Micombero
Micombero as prime minister in 1966, at the coronation ceremony of King Ntare V
1st President of Burundi
In office 28 November 1966 – 1 November 1976
Prime Minister	Albin Nyamoya (1972–73), then position abolished
Preceded by	Ntare V, as king Himself, as prime minister
Succeeded by	Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
8th Prime Minister of Burundi
In office 11 July 1966 – 28 November 1966
Monarch	Ntare V
Preceded by	Léopold Biha
Succeeded by	Himself, as president
Personal details
Born	(1940-08-26)26 August 1940 Rutovu, Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Burundi)
Died	16 July 1983(1983-07-16) (aged 42)[a] Mogadishu, Somalia
Political party	Union for National Progress (UPRONA)
Spouse	Adèle Nzeyimana ​ (m. 1965)​ [2]
Alma mater	Royal Military Academy Somali National University
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Burundi  Republic of Burundi

Michel Micombero (26 August 1940 – 16 July 1983) was a Burundian politician and army officer who ruled the country as de facto military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi from July to November 1966, and the first President of the Republic from November 1966 until his overthrow in 1976.

Micombero was an ethnic Tutsi who began his career as an officer in the Burundian military at the time of Burundi's independence in 1962. He studied abroad and was given a ministerial portfolio on his return. He rose to prominence for his role in helping to crush an attempted coup d'état in October 1965 by ethnic Hutu soldiers against the Tutsi-dominated monarchy. In its aftermath, in 1966, Micombero himself instigated two further coups against the monarchy which he perceived as too moderate. The first coup in July installed a new king on the throne, propelling Micombero to the role of prime minister. The second coup in November abolished the monarchy itself, bringing Micombero to power as the first president of the new Republic of Burundi.

Micombero led a one-party state which centralised the country's institutions and adopted a neutral stance in the Cold War. Dissent was repressed and, in 1972, an attempt to challenge Micombero's power led to genocidal violence against the Hutu population in which around 100,000 people, mainly Hutus, were killed. His regime finally collapsed in 1976 when he was ousted in a coup d'état by another army officer, Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, who installed himself as president. Micombero went into exile in Somalia, where he died in 1983.

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