The Espace Léopold (French, commonly used in English) or  Leopoldruimte (help·info) (Dutch) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels (Belgium) housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU).

It consists of a number of buildings, primarily the oldest, the Paul-Henri Spaak building, which houses the debating chamber and the President's offices, and the Altiero Spinelli building which is the largest. The buildings are located in the European quarter in the east of Brussels, with building starting in 1989.

The complex is not the official seat of Parliament, which is the Immeuble Louise Weiss in Strasbourg, France, but as most of the other institutions of the European Union are in Brussels, Parliament built the Brussels complex in order to be closer to their activities. A majority of the Parliament's work is now geared to its Brussels site, but it is legally bound to keep Strasbourg as its official home.

History[link]

Due to the failure of leaders to agree on a single seat, the Parliament desired full infrastructure in both Brussels and Strasbourg, where the parliament's official seat is located. In Brussels an international congress centre (unofficially intended as the Parliament) was built with the backing of the Generale Maatschappij/Société Générale and BACOB who joined forces on the project in 1987. The project was built on an old brewery and marshalling yard including the covering of the Luxembourg railway station to form a pedestrian area.^[1] The building project started before 1988 with building work on the hemicycle and the north wing starting in 1989 and the south wing in 1992.^[2]

The policy committees, inter-parliamentary delegations and the political groups all meet in the complex.^[3] Consequently the secretariat of the committees (DG IPOL and DG EXPO) and the political groups are all situated there as well. Construction on the Spinelli building started in 1991 and was competed in 1997 while the last phase of extensions (Antall and Brandt), towards Luxembourg Square along rue de Trierstraat, was completed during 2008.^[4][5]

Following the completion of Antall and Brandt, it is believed the complex now provides enough space for Parliament for the next ten to fifteen years with no major new building projects foreseen.^[6] Three quarters of Parliamentary activity now take place in Espace Léopold, rather than Strasbourg.^[7]

In 2008, the final extensions to the complex were completed along the Trierstraat and Luxembourg Square. Originally called the D4 and D5 buildings, there was controversy as to who to name them after. At the death of Pope John Paul II, Polish MEPs tried to get the new buildings named after him,^[8] though this was opposed on grounds of secular government and that he did not contribute to the Parliament. Václav Havel, Nelson Mandela, Olof Palme, Margaret Thatcher and Jan Palach were all suggested by MEPs, with one satirical suggestion was naming the two buildings the "Kaczyński Towers" after the Polish brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński, the first the late former President and the latter formerly Prime Minister (2006–07), who enjoy a frosty relationship with Brussels.^[9][10] In January 2008 the bureau reached a final decision. The new buildings were named after Willy Brandt, the German chancellor from 1969 to 1974, and József Antall, the first elected Hungarian prime minister from 1990 to 1993. The bridge connecting the new building to the original structure was named the Konrad Adenauer bridge. Konrad Adenauer was the German chancellor from 1949 to 1963. Meanwhile, the parliament's press room was named after the assassinated Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya.^[11]

The western face of Parliament after the competition of its latest extension towards Luxembourg square.

In September 2008 Parliament held its first full plenary session (only part sessions are held in Brussels, see Location of European Union institutions) in Brussels after parts of the celling of the Strasbourg chamber collapsed during recess forcing the temporary move.^[12]

On 14 January 2009, the European Parliament decided to bestow the names of two distinguished and prematurely deceased MEP's to specific locations inside the building: the reading room inside the building's library was named Salle Francisco Lucas Pires and the assembly room of the Conciliation Committee was named Salle Renzo Imbeni.^[13]

Buildings[link]

The complex consists of the Paul-Henri Spaak building (which houses the debating chamber), the Altiero Spinelli building, two new buildings known as the Willy Brandt and József Antall buildings and a newly refurbished building which was the former entrance to the Brussels-Luxembourg Station. Between the Spinelli buildings and the Brant-Antall buildings, which are connected by the circular Konrad Adenauer footbridge, runs the esplanade of the European Parliament (or the "Mall").

The Paul-Henri Spaak building seen from the east across Leopold Park in June 2008,
the towers of the Altiero Spinelli building can be seen behind it.

the József Antall, building from the esplanade

The Paul-Henri Spaak building (PHS), named after former President Paul-Henri Spaak, houses the hemicycle for plenary sessions in that city, as well as a press centre and offices for the Parliament's President and senior Parliament staff. The building juts from the main buildings out into Leopold Park surrounding the far side with trees. With its striking cylinder-shaped glass dome, redolent of the Crystal Palace as well as the Northern Bordiau Hall of the nearby Parc du Cinquantenaire, the building known to locals as the “Caprice des Dieux” (whim of the gods), which is the name of a cheese with the same shape.^[2] The 12th floor President's Dining Room is the dome's interior. This is being used for some press events and special occasions. One of the glass facades inside the dome is covered with a 150 square meters large ceramic mural called Miti del Mediterraneo, portraying the abduction of Europa and other elements of Greek mythology, which was made between 1992 and 1993 by Aligi Sassu.^[14][15]

To the west of the Paul-Henri Spaak building is the Altiero Spinelli building, connected by a two-floor pedestrian bridge. The Altiero Spinelli building (ASP, formerly D3), named after parliamentarian Altiero Spinelli, primarily houses the offices of MEPs and political groups. It also houses shops, cafeteria and the members' bar. It is the largest building with 372,000m² of space and incorporates five high-rise towers, each up to 17 floors.

Interior of the Altiero Spinelli building

The buildings west of Spinelli are connected via the circular Konrad Adenauer footbridge (across the esplanade) to the Willy Brandt building (WIB, formerly D4), the József Antall building (JAN, formerly D5) and the old railway station building (BQL).^[11] The Brandt building began to be occupied in July 2007 by the external policies DG and the European Conservatives and Reformists group. The new complex has 375 offices in Brandt and 5 conference rooms (with 25 interpreters' booths) in Antall in addition to new press facilities. The first meeting in the Antall building took place on 7 October 2008.

The ground floor (on the rue de Trierstraat side) of the Antall building includes an entrance to the Brussels-Luxembourg station. The old building of the Brussels-Luxembourg station (originally called the Leopold Quarter Station) has been turned into a public information office and venue for ad hoc exhibitions. The first such exhibition, on the history of buildings in the EU quarter of Brussels, was held in the summer of 2007.

To the north of the Spinelli building are the Atrium and Remard buildings. The Atrium I & II buildings (ATR) hosts the DG IPOL and some political groups secretariats. Number 1 was completed in 2000, and the second in 2004. The Remard building was rented from March 2004 for a period of 9 years, with the possibility of cancellation after 6 years for an annual rent of €1,387,205.^[16]

Hemicycle[link]

The hemicycle (debating chamber)

Members are arranged in a hemicycle according to their political groups who are ordered left to right according to their alignment. However the non attached members are seated towards on the right towards the outer ring without a front bench seat. All desks are equipped with microphones, headphones for interpretation and electronic voting equipment. The leaders of the groups sit on the front benches at the centre, and in the very centre is a podium for guest speakers. The remaining half of the circular chamber is primarily composed of the raised area where the President and staff sit.^[17] Behind them there is an EU flag attached to the wall with national flags above it.

Interpreters' booths are located behind them and along the sides of the chamber, while public galleries are located at the rear. Further benches are provided between the sides of the raised area and the MEPs, these are taken up by the Council on the far left and the Commission on the far right.^[17] The chamber as a whole is of a wooden design, unlike the hemicycle in Strasbourg, and was extensively renovated in 2003 to create more seats and interpretation booths for the 2004 EU enlargement.

Visitors[link]

The Brandt building (left) will house a new visitors centre

Parliament, its committees and plenary meetings are open to the public. Free audio guided tours are offered when parliament is not holding a plenary meeting.^[18] The buildings, containing several shops and banks, are largely open to the public and receive 15,000 people a day.^[19] The old station building houses the Belgian public information office on the European Parliament, and "infodoc", a specialised literary resource on the Parliament for academics and journalists. A more general public information resource is available at the "infopoint" on the esplanade side of the Spinelli building.^[20]

The ground floor of the Brandt building houses a visitors' centre on the ground floor, originally planned to open in time for the 2009 European election but it had been delayed by a year. With 6,000 square metres it will be the second largest Parliamentary visitors centre in the world, modelled on the Swedish and Danish centres, with a state-of-the-art interactive role play allowing visitors to simulate the work of an MEP in a mock hemicycle – debating and passing legislation.^[21]

The original visitor's centre was opened in the 1990s and became too small to handle visitors. The new centre includes a cafeteria, shop, children's area and a "resource area" offering databases of detailed information. There is also a permanent exhibition on the Parliament and Europe.^[21] Entry will be free and visitors will not have to gain passes or go through heavy security checks as they have to with the rest of the complex.

The European Parliament has also collected around 363 paintings and sculptures across its three sets of buildings which it has been purchasing as a pan-European cultural collection since 1979.^[22] Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg MEP, who is in charge of Parliament's art budget, plans to ensure the public have greater access by opening a 'tunnel of art' between the Espace Léopold and the Delors building. A museum of Europe will also be established in the Eastman building near Parliament in Leopold Park.^[23]

A long-standing statue outside the Paul-Henri Spaak building has become popular with tourists. The bronze statue, simply called "Europe", was created by May Claerhout and is a representation of Europa, carried by a mass of people while also being apart of it. The figure carries an "E", the symbol of the euro and as a sign of unity.^[24] The statue was given to Parliament by the Belgian presidency of the EU on 20 December 1993.^[25]

Other and former buildings[link]

Other rented and minor buildings, outside the main complex but used by the Parliament, include three buildings on rue Montoyer, the Eastman building (EAS) in Leopold Park, the second and third floors of the "Wiertz banana building" and the Wayenberg building further east of the park. There are also a number of buildings are rented on Rue Montoyerstraat; 'MOY72' houses all of the DG INFO and 'MTY 70' and 'MOY 63' other support services. (50°50′26″N 4°22′23″E / 50.840609°N 4.373192°E / 50.840609; 4.373192 (Montoyer buildings))

The entire European Parliament in Brussels used to be housed in the Belliard building, now called the Delors (RMD) building (after former President Jacques Delors). This building, and the Bertha von Suttner (ATR) buildings (after pacifist Bertha von Suttner) which is part of Espace Léopold, now house the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.^[26][27][28]

See also[link]

• Parlamentarium
• Brussels and the European Union
• Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg
• European Parliament in Luxembourg

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: European Parliament, Brussels

• Map of the Parliament buildings EuroParl website
• Naming of the buildings EuroParl website
• Seat of the EP European Navigator
• Photos of construction behind the old station "gare du luxembourg" Gregory Halliday
• Photos of the construction of D4 & D5 Gregory Halliday
• Photos of construction of "Caprice des Dieux" (Dec 1993) Gregory Halliday
• Photo of D4 near completion Eupedia
• Interview with Michel Boucquillon, designer on the building Interiordesign.net
• Building(s) For Europe, website of a 2007 exhibition of EU buildings in Brussels
• European Parliament, Cerau
• History of the Building ape-Europe.org

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Christophe Willem
Willem in March 2012
Background information
Birth name	Christophe Durier
Born	(1983-08-03) 3 August 1983 (age 28)
Origin	Enghien-les-Bains, France
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Columbia Sony Music
Associated acts	Zazie Jenifer Kylie Minogue Jennifer Ayache

Christophe Durier better known as Christophe Willem (born on 3 August 1983 in Enghien-les-Bains, Val-d'Oise), is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star (French version of Pop Idol) in 2006.

Early life[link]

Christophe spent most of his life in Deuil-la-Barre (Val-d'Oise), where his parents run a driving school. As a child, he learned figure skating and to play the piano. Later he learned to sing as part of a gospel choir "Young Voices". He also was composing songs at the age of fourteen.

Before deciding to study to become a lawyer and calculus professor, he continued to practice music and in 2004 he appeared in a Richard Anconina film, Alive, where he played the role of Henri, a young man with a golden voice who is, nevertheless, not considered suitable for the lead role in a musical. Since his film career continued after this, he returned home, where he studied communication while working a number of part-time jobs, such as babysitting and helping in a theatre.

[edit] Nouvelle Star

Pushed by his family and friends, he decided to try out for the 2006 edition of Nouvelle Star. With an initial audition performance of Strong Enough by Des'ree, he surprised the judges, who did not expect such a quality voice from an admittedly ungainly-looking man. Nicknamed "La Tortue" (The Turtle) by Nouvelle Star judge Marianne James, he proved to be a popular contestant, and on 8 June, was crowned the fourth Nouvelle Star.^{[citation needed]}

Performances[link]

• Initial audition : "Strong enough" (Des'ree)
• Further audition : "Être à la hauteur" (Le Roi Soleil/Emmanuel Moire)
• Top 14 : "Sunny" (Boney M)
• Top 14 redux : "Où sont les femmes" (Patrick Juvet)
• Top 10 : "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper)
• Top 9 : "Ça plane pour moi" (Plastic Bertrand)
• Top 8 : "I Am What I Am" (Gloria Gaynor)
• Top 7 : "New York, New York" (Frank Sinatra)
• Top 6 : "Goodbye Marilou" (Michel Polnareff), "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston)
• Top 5 : "My Heart Will Go On" (Céline Dion), "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees)
• Top 4 : "Memory" – (Barbra Streisand), "I Want You Back" (The Jackson Five)
• Top 3 : "I'm Still Standing" (Elton John), "Pour ne pas vivre seul" (Dalida)
• Top 2 : "Born to Be Alive" (Patrick Hernandez), "La chanson des vieux amants" (Jacques Brel), "Last Dance" (Donna Summer)
• Top 1 : "Someone New" (Eskobar)

Career[link]

His debut album Inventaire was released on 16 April 2007, while the first single, Élu produit de l'année premiered in March.

In May 2007 he released the second single Double Je, which went directly on the #1 in France and Belgium.^[1][2] The third single, Jacques A Dit came out in autumn 2007. The album was well received and sold double platinum in France^[3] and gold in Belgium and Switzerland. So far, the album has sold over 1 million copies.^[4][5] Willem started his first tour on 15 November 2007 and it ended on 20 July 2008. He toured France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Overseas departments and territories of France, such as Réunion, Mauritius and even New Caledonia. He also sang several times in Paris at L'Olympia and Zenith, which are the most prestigious concert halls in Paris.

In 2007 Christophe Willem appeared on the list of the 10 musicians who earn the most in France (including income, record sales, concerts and contract). Christophe Willem was in 6th place and earned a total of 1.22 million euros in 2007.^[6]

He joined artists such as Tears for Fears, Lara Fabian, and Murray Head on the Night of the Proms tour 2007.

In 2008, he joined the Les Enfoires charity ensemble

His second album, Caféine, was published in 25 May 2009 and the album's first single was Berlin. The second single was Plus Que Tout and the third Heartbox.

Caféine went immediately to #1 in France.

In 2010, he joined the jury of French version of X Factor.

His third album, entitled Prismophonic was released a month and a day (21st November 2011) after the first single Cool (20th September 2011). The second single from the album is called Si Mes Larmes Tombent (January 2012)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

DVD[link]

• 2008 : Fermeture pour rénovation (#1 in France and #1 in Belgium)

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Christophe Willem at the Internet Movie Database
• christophe-willem.com
• Review of Cafeine(in English)

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2010)

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (June 2009)

Léopold Eyharts
CNES/ESA Astronaut
Nationality	French
Status	Active
Born	(1957-04-28) April 28, 1957 (age 55) Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
Other occupation	Test Pilot
Rank	Brigadier General, French Air Force
Time in space	68d 21h 31m
Selection	1990 CNES Group 3, 1998 ESA Group
Missions	Soyuz TM-27, Soyuz TM-26, STS-122, Expedition 16, STS-123
Mission insignia
Awards

Léopold Eyharts is a Brigadier General in the French Air Force and an ESA astronaut.

Background[link]

Eyharts was born April 28, 1957, in Biarritz, Basque Country, France. He graduated as an engineer from the French Air Force Academy of Salon-de-Provence in 1979.

Awards and honors[link]

• Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur
• Chevalier of the Ordre National du Mérite
• Médaille d’Outre-Mer
• Silver National Defence Medal
• Cavalier of the Order of Courage (Russia)
• Cavalier of the Order of Friendship (Russia)
• The medal "For merits in development of space" (April 12, 2011) - for outstanding contribution to the development of international cooperation in manned space flight

Military career[link]

He joined the French Air Force Academy of Salon-de-Provence in 1977 and was graduated as an aeronautical engineer in 1979. In 1980, he became a fighter pilot and was assigned to an operational Jaguar squadron in Istres Air Base (France). In 1985, he was assigned as a wing commander in Saint-Dizier Air Force base.

In 1988, he was graduated as a test pilot in the French test pilot school (EPNER) and was assigned to Bretigny flight test center near Paris. He then flew on different types of military and civilian aircraft including Mirage 2000, Alpha Jet, Mirage 3, Caravelle, C-160 mainly involved in radar and equipment testing.

He has logged 3500 flight hours as a fighter and test pilot in 40 different aircraft types, 21 parachute jumps including one ejection.

CNES and ESA career[link]

In 1990, Léopold Eyharts was selected as an astronaut candidate by CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) and assigned to support the Hermes spaceplane program managed by the Hermes Crew office in Toulouse.

He became one of the test pilots in charge of the CNES parabolic flights program, an experimental aircraft (Caravelle) managed by Bretigny Flight Test Center to provide a microgravity laboratory to the scientific community.

In 1992, Eyharts participated in the second European Space Agency astronaut selection. At the end of the same year, he took part in an ESA evaluation of the Russian “Buran” Space Shuttle training in Moscow, where he flew in the Tupolev 154 Buran in-flight simulator.

He also participated in two additional short-duration spaceflight training courses in Star City, Moscow — six weeks in 1991 and two weeks in 1993.

In 1994, he was in charge of parabolic flight testing of the Caravelle replacement, an Airbus A300 which become operational in 1995.

Eyharts was assigned to full spaceflight training in January 1995. He trained as a back-up crew member for the "Cassiopeia" French-Russian space mission, which took place in August 1996.

His first spaceflight came as part of the follow-on CNES scientific space mission named “Pégase.” He flew to the Mir Space Station in February 1998 aboard Soyuz TM-27. During the three week Pégase mission, he performed various French experiments in the area of medical research, neuroscience, biology, fluid physics and technology. During his first space mission, he logged 20 days, 18 hours and 20 minutes in space.

In August 1998, Eyharts was assigned by the European Space Agency to train at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As part of the international astronauts of the 1998 class, he attended NASA Astronaut Candidate Training which included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. He served in technical assignments until assigned to a space flight.

Léopold Eyharts during a conference in a school of Vincennes (12 December 2009)

He launched on board Space Shuttle mission STS-122 to the International Space Station on February 7, 2008, where he joined Expedition 16. He participated in the installation and configuration of the Columbus European laboratory module. He returned to Earth aboard mission STS-123 in March 2008.^[1]

References[link]

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

External links[link]

• Spacefacts biography of Léopold Eyharts
• ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts assigned to European Columbus laboratory mission to the ISS
• Léopold Eyharts, the man who will bring Columbus to life

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21, 1949 – October 15, 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.^[1][2] Viewed as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara."^[1][3][4][5]

Sankara seized power in a 1983 popularly supported coup at the age of 33, with the goal of eliminating corruption and the dominance of the former French colonial power.^[1][6] He immediately launched the most ambitious program for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent.^[6] To symbolize this new autonomy and rebirth, he even renamed the country from the French colonial Upper Volta to Burkina Faso ("Land of Upright Men").^[6] His foreign policies were centered around anti-imperialism, with his government eschewing all foreign aid, pushing for odious debt reduction, nationalizing all land and mineral wealth, and averting the power and influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. His domestic policies were focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nation-wide literacy campaign, and promoting public health by vaccinating 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles.^[7] Other components of his national agenda included planting over ten million trees to halt the growing desertification of the Sahel, doubling wheat production by redistributing land from feudal landlords to peasants, suspending rural poll taxes and domestic rents, and establishing an ambitious road and rail construction program to "tie the nation together."^[6] On the localized level Sankara also called on every village to build a medical dispensary and had over 350 communities construct schools with their own labour. Moreover, his commitment to women's rights led him to outlaw female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.^[6]

In order to achieve this radical transformation of society, he increasingly exerted authoritarian control over the nation, eventually banning unions and a free press, which he believed could stand in the way of his plans and be manipulated by powerful outside influences.^[6] To counter his opposition in towns and workplaces around the country, he also tried corrupt officials, counter-revolutionaries and "lazy workers" in peoples revolutionary tribunals.^[6] Additionally, as an admirer of Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, Sankara set up Cuban-style Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs).^[1]

His revolutionary programs for African self-reliance as a defiant alternative to the neo-liberal development strategies imposed by the West, made him an icon to many of Africa's poor.^[6] Sankara remained popular with most of his country's impoverished citizens. However his policies alienated and antagonised the vested interests of an array of groups, which included the small but powerful Burkinabé middle class, the tribal leaders whom he stripped of the long-held traditional right to forced labour and tribute payments, and the foreign financial interests in France and their ally the Ivory Coast.^[1][8] As a result, he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d'état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987. A week before his execution, he declared: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas."^[1]

Early life[link]

A map showing the major cities of Burkina Faso.

Thomas Sankara was the son of Marguerite Sankara (died March 6, 2000) and Sambo Joseph Sankara (1919 – August 4, 2006), a gendarme.^[9] Born into a Roman Catholic family, "Thom'Sank" was a Silmi-Mossi, an ethnic group that originated with marriage between Mossi men and women of the pastoralist Fulani people. The Silmi-Mossi are among the least advantaged in the Mossi caste system. He attended primary school in Gaoua and high school in Bobo-Dioulasso, the country's second city.

His father fought in the French army during World War II and was detained by the Nazis. Sankara's family wanted him to become a Catholic priest. Fittingly for a country with a large Muslim population, he was also familiar with the Qur'an.

Military career[link]

After basic military training in secondary school in 1966, Sankara began his military career at the age of 19, and a year later was sent to Madagascar for officer training at Antsirabe where he witnessed popular uprisings in 1971 and 1972 against the government of Philibert Tsiranana and first read the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, profoundly influencing his political views for the rest of his life.^[10] Returning to Upper Volta in 1972, by 1974 he fought in a border war between Upper Volta and Mali. He earned fame for his heroic performance in the border war with Mali, but years later would renounce the war as "useless and unjust", a reflection of his growing political consciousness.^[11] He also became a popular figure in the capital of Ouagadougou. The fact that he was a decent guitarist (he played in a band named "Tout-à-Coup Jazz") and rode a motorcycle may have contributed to his charismatic public images.

In 1976 he became commander of the Commando Training Centre in Pô. In the same year he met Blaise Compaoré in Morocco. During the presidency of Colonel Saye Zerbo a group of young officers formed a secret organisation "Communist Officers' Group" (Regroupement des officiers communistes, or ROC) the best-known members being Henri Zongo, Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, Compaoré and Sankara.

Government posts[link]

Sankara was appointed Secretary of State for Information in the military government in September 1981, journeying to his first cabinet meeting on a bicycle, but he resigned on April 21, 1982 in opposition to what he saw as the regime's anti-labour drift, declaring "Misfortune to those who gag the people!" ("Malheur à ceux qui bâillonnent le peuple!")

After another coup (November 7, 1982) brought to power Major-Doctor Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, Sankara became prime minister in January 1983, but he was dismissed (May 17) and placed under house arrest after a visit by the French president's son and African affairs adviser Jean-Christophe Mitterrand. Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani were also placed under arrest; this caused a popular uprising.

President[link]

A coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré made Sankara President on August 4, 1983,^[13] at the age of 33. The coup d'état was supported by Libya which was, at the time, on the verge of war with France in Chad^[14] (see History of Chad).

Sankara saw himself as a revolutionary and was inspired by the examples of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and Ghana's military leader Jerry Rawlings. As President, he promoted the "Democratic and Popular Revolution" (Révolution démocratique et populaire, or RDP). The ideology of the Revolution was defined by Sankara as anti-imperialist in a speech of October 2, 1983, the Discours d'orientation politique (DOP), written by his close associate Valère Somé. His policy was oriented toward fighting corruption, promoting reforestation, averting famine, and making education and health real priorities.

Abolition of chiefs' privileges[link]

The government suppressed many of the powers held by tribal chiefs such as their right to receive tribute payment and obligatory labour. The CDRs (Comités de Défense de la Révolution) were formed as popular mass organizations and armed. Sankara's government also initiated a form of military conscription with the SERNAPO (Service National et Populaire). Both were a counterweight to the power of the army.

In 1984, on the first anniversary of his accession, he renamed the country Burkina Faso, meaning "the land of upright people" in Moré and Djula, the two major languages of the country. He also gave it a new flag and wrote a new national anthem (Une Seule Nuit).

Women's rights and AIDS[link]

Improving women's status was one of Sankara's explicit goals, and his government included a large number of women, an unprecedented policy priority in West Africa. His government banned female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.^[6] Sankara also promoted contraception and encouraged husbands to go to market and prepare meals to experience for themselves the conditions faced by women. Furthermore, Sankara was the first African leader to appoint women to major cabinet positions and to recruit them actively for the military.^[6]

Sankara's administration was also the first African government to publicly recognize the AIDS epidemic as a major threat to Africa.^[16]

Second Agacher strip war[link]

In 1985, Burkina Faso organised a general population census. During the census, some Fula camps in Mali were visited by mistake by Burkinabé census agents.^[17] The Malian government claimed that the act was a violation of its sovereignty on the Agacher strip. Following efforts by Mali asking African leaders to pressure Sankara,^[17] tensions erupted on Christmas Day 1985 in a war that lasted five days and killed about 100 people (most victims were civilians killed by a bomb dropped on the marketplace in Ouahigouya by a Malian MiG plane). The conflict is known as the "Christmas war" in Burkina Faso.

Personal image and popularity[link]

The coat of arms of Burkina Faso under Sankara from 1984-87, featuring a crossed mattock and AK-47 (an allusion to the Hammer and Sickle) with the motto "La Patrie ou la Mort, nous vaincrons" (English: "Fatherland or death, we will win").

Accompanying his personal charisma, Sankara had an array of original initiatives that contributed to his popularity and brought some international media attention to the Burkinabé revolution:

Solidarity[link]

• He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers.
• He reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets.
• He redistributed land from the feudal landlords and gave it directly to the peasants. Wheat production rose in three years from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare, making the country food self-sufficient.^[6]
• He opposed foreign aid, saying that "he who feeds you, controls you."^[6]
• He spoke in forums like the Organization of African Unity against continued neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance.^[6]
• He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt. He argued that the poor and exploited did not have an obligation to repay money to the rich and exploiting.^[6]

• In Ouagadougou, Sankara converted the army's provisioning store into a state-owned supermarket open to everyone (the first supermarket in the country).^[1]
• He forced civil servants to pay one month's salary to public projects.^[1]
• He refused to use the air conditioning in his office on the grounds that such luxury was not available to anyone but a handful of Burkinabes.^[7]
• As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge and a broken freezer.^[7]

Style[link]

• A motorcyclist himself, he formed an all-women motorcycle personal guard.
• He required public servants to wear a traditional tunic, woven from Burkinabe cotton and sewn by Burkinabe craftsmen.^[6]
• He was known for jogging unaccompanied through Ouagadougou in his track suit and posing in his tailored military fatigues, with his mother-of-pearl pistol.^[1]
• When asked why he didn't want his portrait hung in public places, as was the norm for other African leaders, Sankara replied "There are seven million Thomas Sankaras."^[7]
• An accomplished guitarist, he wrote the new national anthem himself.^[1]

"Africa's Che Guevara"[link]

Children "pioneers" of the Revolution, donning starred berets like Che.

Sankara, who is often referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara",^[1] emulated Guevara (1928–1967) in both style and substance. Stylistically, Sankara emulated Guevara by preferring to wear a starred beret and military fatigues, living ascetically with few possessions, and keeping a minimal salary once assuming power. Both men also considered themselves allies of Fidel Castro (Sankara was visited by Castro in 1987), spoke fluent French, are well known for having ridden motorcycles, and are often cited as effectively utilizing their charisma to motivate their followers. Substantively, Guevara and Sankara were both Marxist revolutionaries, who believed in armed revolution against imperialism and monopoly capitalism, denounced financial neo-colonialism before the United Nations, held up agrarian land reform and literacy campaigns as key parts of their agenda, and utilized revolutionary tribunals and CDR's against counter-revolutionaries. Both men were also murdered in their late thirties (Guevara 39 / Sankara 38) by opponents, with Sankara coincidentally giving a speech marking and honoring the 20th anniversary of Che Guevara's October 9, 1967 execution, one week before his own assassination on October 15, 1987.^[18]

Assassination[link]

"Sankara’s assassins were guided by imperialism, which could not allow a man with the ideas and actions of Sankara to lead a country on a continent so exploited for hundreds of years by international imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonial governments that do their bidding. Sankara’s political ideas will endure, like those of Patrice Lumumba of Congo and Amílcar Cabral of Guinea-Bissau, also assassinated by traitors at the behest of the empire."

— Ulises Estrada, a key organizer of Che Guevara's 1966-67 guerrilla mission to Bolivia ^[19]

On October 15, 1987 Sankara was killed by an armed gang with twelve other officials in a coup d'état organised by his former colleague, Blaise Compaoré, supported by France and United States of America. Deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries was one of the reasons given, with Compaore stating that Sankara jeopardised foreign relations with former colonial power France and neighbouring Ivory Coast.^[1] Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord allied to Charles Taylor, told Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that it was engineered by Charles Taylor.^[20] After the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs mounted an armed resistance to the army for several days.

Sankara's body was dismembered and he was quickly buried in an unmarked grave,^[6] while his widow and two children fled the nation.^[21] Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, returned the country back under the International Monetary Fund fold, and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy.

A week prior to his death Sankara gave what would become his own epitaph, remarking that "while revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas."^[1]

Legacy[link]

"Africa and the world are yet to recover from Sankara’s assassination. Just as we have yet to recover from the loss of Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Eduardo Mondlane, Amílcar Cabral, Steve Biko, Samora Machel, and most recently John Garang, to name only a few. While malevolent forces have not used the same methods to eliminate each of these great pan-Africanists, they have been guided by the same motive: to keep Africa in chains."

— Antonio de Figueiredo, February 2008 ^[11]

Twenty years later, on October 15, 2007, Thomas Sankara was commemorated around the world in ceremonies that took place in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Tanzania, Burundi, France, Canada, and the USA.^[7]

List of works[link]

• Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87, by Thomas Sankara, Pathfinder Press, 1988, ISBN 0-87348-527-0
• We Are the Heirs of the World's Revolutions: Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87, by Thomas Sankara, Pathfinder Press, 2007, ISBN 0-87348-989-6
• Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle, by Thomas Sankara, Pathfinder Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87348-585-8

Further reading[link]

Books[link]

• Who killed Sankara?, by Alfred Cudjoe, 1988, University of California, ISBN 9964-90-354-5
• La voce nel deserto, by Vittorio Martinelli and Sofia Massai, 2009, Zona Editrice, ISBN 978-88-6438-001-8

Web articles[link]

• Burkina Faso’s Pure President by Bruno Jaffré
• Thomas Sankara Lives! by Mukoma Wa Ngugi
• They are Seven Millions Sankaras by Koni Benson
• Thomas Sankara: "I have a Dream" by Federico Bastiani
• Thomas Sankara: Chronicle of an Organised Tragedy by Cheriff M. Sy
• Thomas Sankara Former Leader of Burkina Faso by Désiré-Joseph Katihabwa
• Thomas Sankara 20 Years Later: A Tribute to Integrity by Demba Moussa Dembélé
• Thomas Sankara: A View of The Future for Africa and The Third World by Ameth Lo
• Thomas Sankara on the Emancipation of Women, An internationalist whose ideas live on! by Nathi Mthethwa

DVD[link]

• Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man, 2009, directed by Robin Shuffield, (52 min), CreateSpace, ASIN: B002OEBRKC ^[22]

References[link]

External links[link]

Video/Films[link]

• Video Trailer for Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man
• Short Tribute Video with Images from Youtube
• Speech on the United Front Against Debt by Thomas Sankara (Part 1) --- Part 2 at the OAU Summit, July 29, 1987
• Capitaine Thomas Sankara by Christophe Cupelin, 2012

Articles[link]

• How Imperialist 'Aid' Blocks Development in Africa by Thomas Sankara, The Militant
• Interview With Aziz Fall On the Assassination of Thomas Sankara October 17, 2007
• A Grisly Assassination That Will Not Stay Buried by Howard French, The New York Times, March 10, 1997
• African Revolutionary Thomas Sankara's Example Lives on by Demba Moussa Dembélé, International Journal of Socialist Renewal

v t e Heads of state of Burkina Faso Republic of Upper Volta (1960–1984): Maurice Yaméogo | Sangoulé Lamizana † | Saye Zerbo † | Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo † | Thomas Sankara † Burkina Faso (since 1984): Thomas Sankara † | Blaise Compaoré † military

v t e Prime Ministers of Burkina Faso Upper Volta (colony; to 1960): Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly | Maurice Yaméogo | post vacant, 1959-1971 Republic of Upper Volta (1960-1984): Gérard Kango Ouédraogo | Sangoulé Lamizana | Joseph Conombo | Saye Zerbo† | post vacant, 1982-1983 | Thomas Sankara† | post vacant, 1983-1984 Burkina Faso (since 1984): post vacant, 1984-1992 | Youssouf Ouédraogo | Roch Marc Christian Kaboré | Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo | Paramanga Ernest Yonli | Tertius Zongo | Luc-Adolphe Tiao † military