Sylvanus Olympio
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Sylvanus Epiphanio Olympio (1902 - 13 January 1963) was a Togolese political figure.
He served as the Prime Minister of Togo from 1958 to 1961. He then served as the first President of Togo between 1961 and 1963 where he became the first president and prime minister of Togo for his first year in office, obtaining the seats in an election that barred Nicolas Grunitzky's party. He was assassinated in a military coup d'état on January 13th. The leader of the coup, Col Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who later assumed the presidency in 1967 and held it until his death in 2005, claimed to have personally fired the shot which killed Olympio.
His son, Gilchrist Olympio, is currently the most prominent opposition leader in Togo.
He was succeeded by Emmanuel Bodjollé, head of an "Insurrection Committee" that ruled for only two days after which Nicolas Grunitzky was put in charge.
| Preceded by: Nicolas Grunitzky | Prime Minister of Togo 1958–1961 | Succeeded by: Joseph Kokou Koffigoh |
| Preceded by: (none) | President of Togo 1960–1963 | Succeeded by: Emmanuel Bodjollé |
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Categories: People stubs | 1902 births | 1963 deaths | Prime ministers of Togo | Presidents of Togo | Murdered presidents
