Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested

Date: 1 Nov 1959
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested

Patrice Lumumba, Congolese nationalist who would be the Congo’s first Prime Minister, was briefly imprisoned following two nights of unrest on charges of inciting riots in Stanleyville. He was then set free in time to attend the Round Table Conference in Brussels, where his dramatic appearance stole the show from other Congolese leaders. Following Congo’s independence, which it gained from Belgium in June 1960, a series of events that led to his death unfolded. In October 1960 Lumumba was placed under house arrest, a month later he escaped to Kasai and was captured. On 1 December he was imprisoned at Thysville. On 17 January 1961 he was flown to Elisabethville in Katanga where on 13 February 1961 it was announced that he was shot and killed while trying to escape.

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01 Boddy-Evans A. ‘This day in African history: 01 November’, from About African History, [online], available at www.africanhistory.about.com (Accessed: 27 September 2012)
02South African History Online, ‘Patrice Lumumba’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 27 September 2012)
03Anwers.com, ‘Patrice Lumumba’, [online], available at www.answers.com (Accessed: 27 September 2012)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, October 25). Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093895

South African History Online (2012) 'Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested', South African History Online, 25 October. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093895 (Accessed: 29 July 2026).

South African History Online, Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093895, (accessed 29 July 2026).

"Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested." South African History Online, 25 Oct. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093895. Accessed 29 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Congolese activist,Patrice Lumumba is briefly arrested." South African History Online. October 25, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093895.