Louis Rwagasore

Crown Prince[a] Louis Rwagasore
Rwagasore in 1961
2nd Prime Minister of Burundi
In office 28 September – 13 October 1961
Monarch	Mwambutsa IV
Governor	Jean-Paul Harroy
Preceded by	Joseph Cimpaye
Succeeded by	André Muhirwa
Personal details
Born	(1932-01-10)10 January 1932 Gitega, Ruanda-Urundi
Died	13 October 1961(1961-10-13) (aged 29) Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi
Manner of death	Assassination
Political party	UPRONA
Spouse	Marie-Rose Ntamikevyo ​ ​ (m. 1959)​
Parent	Mwambutsa IV (father)

Louis Rwagasore (Kirundi: Ludoviko Rwagasore; 10 January 1932 – 13 October 1961) was a Burundian prince and politician, who served as the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa family of Burundian Mwami (king) Mwambutsa IV in Belgian-administered Ruanda-Urundi in 1932, Rwagasore was educated in Burundian Catholic schools before attending university in Belgium. After he returned to Burundi in the mid-1950s he founded a series of cooperatives to economically empower native Burundians and build up his base of political support. The Belgian administration took over the venture, and as a result of the affair his national profile increased and he became a leading figure of the anti-colonial movement.

He soon thereafter became involved with a nationalist political party, the Union for National Progress (UPRONA). He pushed for Burundian independence from Belgian control, national unity, and the institution of a constitutional monarchy. Rwagasore sought to bring UPRONA mass appeal across different regions, ethnicities, and castes, and under him the party maintained a leadership balanced between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis, though the latter were usually favoured for more important positions. The Belgian administration disliked UPRONA and initially attempted to stifle Rwagasore's activities, placing him under house arrest in 1960 during municipal elections.

International pressure led the administration to back down, and the following year UPRONA won an overwhelming majority in the legislative elections. As a result, Rwagasore became prime minister of Burundi on 28 September 1961. Two weeks later he was assassinated by a Greek national at the direction of leaders of a rival political party with the probable support of the Belgian Resident in Burundi. Rwagasore's death derailed his attempts to build national ethnic cohesion and facilitated the growth of Hutu–Tutsi tensions in the country. It also fractured UPRONA, as his former lieutenants engaged in a power struggle to succeed him as the party's leader. Within Burundi, Rwagasore enjoys nearly universal acclaim, and his assassination is commemorated annually with large ceremonies. He remains relatively unknown internationally in comparison to other leaders of independence movements in the African Great Lakes region.

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