Paul-Henry Sandaogo Damiba heads the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration; the current governing council of Burkina Faso installed after the coup of January 24, 2022 overthrew the government of Roch Marc Christian Kabore. Damiba was born in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in … Read MorePaul-Henry Sandaogo Damiba (1981- )
The current president of Mali is Assimi Goita. Goita is the son of a military officer and director of military police who grew up in the military barracks near Bamako. As a child he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Malian … Read MoreAssimi Goita (1983- )
Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló has been serving as the President of Guinea-Bissau since February 27, 2020. Embaló was born on September 23, 1972 in the capital city of Bissau. Ethnically his family is a part of the Fulani people. He has a BA in international … Read MoreUmaro Embaló (1972- )
The long-serving president of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Denis Sassou-Nguesso was born on November 23, 1943 in Edou. His parents were Julien Nguesso, a noted hunter-chief, and Emilienne Mouebara. Denis Sassou-Nguesso attended elementary school in Owando and was also initiated in the Mbochi tribal … Read MoreDenis Sassou-Nguesso (1943- )
Multiple-winning woman medalist Yuderqui Contreras was born Yuderqui Maridalia Contreras on March 27, 1986, in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic. She is also known as Yudelkis Contreras. The fourth child of five children of Eridania Contreras and Arístides Sánchez Reyna, her early education began … Read MoreYuderqui Contreras (1986- )
Ahmed Ben Bella was a leader of the Algerian War of Independence who became the first Prime Minister, and later, the first President of independent Algeria. Ben Bella was born in 1916 in Maghnia (Marnia), Oran, Algeria (then a French colony), the son of a … Read MoreAhmed Ben Bella (1916-2012)
Sam Sandi was born in Cameroon in 1885, barely a year after Germany had invaded the central African nation. Though Sandi’s time in his homeland certainly impacted the person he would become, the story of his adolescent years there remains unknown. Existing records of Sandi … Read MoreSam Sandi (1885-1937)
The details of the birth and appearance of Russian shipbuilder and military Gen. Mikhail M. Egypteos remain uncertain. There are two competing stories: One is that as a teenager from an aristocratic Ethiopian family he was taken, perhaps by force, to the Russian Empire by … Read MoreMikhail Milhailovich Egypteos (1861-1932)
The astonishing appearance of a high-ranking Black military officer in late 18th century Poland who led troops across Europe and in the Caribbean is further evidence of the breadth of the African diaspora. The product of an illicit affair in Paris between British-born Princess Maria … Read MoreWladyslaw Franciszek Jablonowski (1769-1802)
Mohamed Siad Barre (Maxamed Siad Barre) was a military general in Somalia and the country’s third president. He came into power in October of 1969, leading a coup d’état against the elected government. Barre ruled over Somalia until 1991 when he was overthrown by militias, … Read MoreMohamed Siad Barre (1910-1995)
