Historical figures in Kinshasa
The atlas holds 13 people and 24 moments here, from 1940 to 2023. The most recorded lives are Patrice Lumumba, Laurent-Désiré Kabila and Agostinho Neto. Among them Political Leaders, Writers and Educators, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Agostinho Neto
from 1962 to 1978
3 moments here
António Agostinho Neto was an Angolan physician, poet, anti-colonial leader, president of the MPLA, and the first president of independent Angola.…
Ahmed Sékou Touré
in 1963
1 moment here
Guinean nationalist, trade-union leader, and Guinea’s first president, serving from independence in 1958 until his death in 1984.…
Celia Cruz
in 1974
1 moment here
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American singer celebrated internationally as the “Queen of Salsa.” Born in Havana, she rose to fame with Sonora Matancera,…
Charles de Gaulle
in 1940
2 moments here
French army officer, leader of Free France during the Second World War, head of France's Provisional Government, and president of the French Fifth…
Idi Amin
in 1989
1 moment here
Ugandan army officer and dictator who was president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. This chronology records documented physical presences from his birth…
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
in 1958
1 moment here
Central African military officer and politician who seized power in the Central African Republic in 1966, served as president, and proclaimed himself…
Kofi Annan
in 2006
1 moment here
Ghanaian diplomat and statesman who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.…
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
from 1964 to 2001
5 moments here
Congolese revolutionary, rebel leader, and politician. Kabila led the Party of the People’s Revolution and the Maquis of Fizi, became head of the…
Louis Armstrong
in 1960
1 moment here
American jazz trumpeter, vocalist, bandleader, and entertainer whose career transformed jazz solo performance and made him an international cultural…
Miriam Makeba
in 1974
1 moment here
South African singer, songwriter, actor, and anti-apartheid activist known as “Mama Africa.” Makeba’s career took her from Johannesburg and Pretoria…
Muhammad Ali
in 1974
1 moment here
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was an American boxer, activist, humanitarian, and global cultural figure.…
Patrice Lumumba
in 1960
5 moments here
Congolese independence leader and first prime minister of the Republic of the Congo. Lumumba worked in Stanleyville, led the Mouvement National…
Pope Francis
in 2023
1 moment here
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was an Argentine Jesuit priest, archbishop of Buenos Aires, cardinal, and head of the Catholic Church and…
Moments
- 1940 Brazzaville Manifesto Charles de Gaulle
- 1940 Established the Order of Liberation Charles de Gaulle
- 1958 Military technical posting Jean-Bédel Bokassa
- 1960 Government investiture speech Patrice Lumumba
- 1960 Independence Day speech Patrice Lumumba
- 1960 Night at Camp Léopold II Patrice Lumumba
- 1960 Arrival in Léopoldville on State Department tour Louis Armstrong
- 1960 Confinement at official residence Patrice Lumumba
- 1960 Return to Léopoldville under detention Patrice Lumumba
- 1962 Arrival at MPLA exile headquarters Agostinho Neto
- 1962 MPLA National Conference Agostinho Neto
- 1963 Official visit to Brazzaville Ahmed Sékou Touré
- 1964 Rebel liaison in Brazzaville Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- 1974 Fania All-Stars trip to Kinshasa Celia Cruz
- 1974 Zaire 74 festival performance Miriam Makeba
- 1974 Rumble in the Jungle Muhammad Ali
- 1978 Official visit to Kinshasa Agostinho Neto
- 1989 Arrival and arrest at N'djili Airport Idi Amin
- 1997 Entry into Kinshasa Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- 1998 Return to the capital during the Second Congo War Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- 1998 Return from Lubumbashi Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- 2001 Assassination at the Palais de Marbre Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- 2006 Peacekeeper commemoration in Kinshasa Kofi Annan
- 2023 Mass in Kinshasa Pope Francis