On August 4, 1983, Marxist revolutionary Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara came to power in the French Upper Volta (present-day Burkina Faso). A fighter for freedom and justice, he rejected colonial dependence, set the country on the course of economic independence and social-democratic development, and carried out innovative reforms.
During the four years of his presidency, Burkina Faso achieved record economic growth, much to the indignation of its former colonial rulers. Sankara was assassinated during a coup organized with the help of the French military. More than 30 years after this crime, many of its perpetrators have still not been punished.
The future president was born in 1949 and was the tenth child in a Catholic family. His father, a member of the French army, was a representative of the Mossi people - the country's largest ethnic group - and his mother was a descendant of the Fula people. Sankara's mixed ancestry made him a "
third-class" man.
As a young man, he was encouraged to become a priest, but instead chose a military career. He entered a military academy in Upper Volta and in 1970 continued his studies in Madagascar, where he graduated as an officer. In Madagascar, he became familiar with the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, studied the basics of political science and political economy, and became interested in revolutionary ideas.
During Sankara's time in Madagascar, the country's authoritarian leader, Philibert Tsiranana, who maintained close ties with France and sought to strengthen ties with the West, was deposed. His overthrow made the young Sankara consider the possibility of changing the regime in his homeland.
Returning to Upper Volta two years later, Sankara was able to put his military skills into practice. He joined a unit of parachutists, and in 1974 fought against Mali when the latter laid claim to resource-rich land in the northeast of Upper Volta.
Comment: See Matt Ehret's prequel: Sir Henry Kissinger: Midwife to New Babylon