Cyrille Adoula
| Cyrille Adoula | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Prime Minister of Congo-Léopoldville | |
|
In office 2 August 1961 – 30 June 1964 |
|
| President | Joseph Kasa-Vubu |
| Deputy | Jason Sendwe |
| Preceded by | Joseph Iléo |
| Succeeded by | Moise Tshombe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 September 1921 Léopoldville, Belgian Congo (Now Kinshasa, Congo-Kinshasa) |
| Died | 24 May 1978 (aged 56) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Political party |
Mouvement National Congolais (1958–1959) Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji (1959–1964) Rassemblement des démocrates congolaise (1964) |
Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978), was a Congolese trade unionist and politician. He was the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, from 2 August 1961 until 30 June 1964.
Cyrille Adoula was born to middle-class Bangala parents on 13 September 1921 in Léopoldville, Belgian Congo. He attended a Catholic primary school in his youth and received secondary education at St. Joseph's Institute, graduating after five years of studies in 1941. That year he began working as a clerk for various commercial firms. He did this until 1952 when he accepted a senior position at the Belgian Congo Central Bank, the first African to hold a significant post there. In 1948 he became a member of the Conseil pour le Travail et la Prevoyance Sociale Indigene (Council for Labour and Native Social Security).
In 1954 Adoula joined the Belgian Socialist Party and subsequently became the representative for Action Socialiste in the capital. He also enrolled in the Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (General Federation of Belgian Labour). Once he became one of the top Congolese delegates in the association he resigned from his bank post and committed his time to politics. In 1957 he attended the International Labour Conference in Geneva as an adviser to the Belgian delegation. At a General Federation conference in 1959 he successfully lobbied for the Congolese branch of the association to become independent, subsequently becoming secretary-general of the new federation's western chapter. In this capacity he traveled to West Germany and Israel to meet with other trade unionists and became a deputy committee member of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions.
In 1958 Adoula, Patrice Lumumba, and Joseph Iléo formed the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), with Adoula becoming party vice president. While Lumumba became increasingly strident and nationalistic, Adoula remained relatively moderate. In 1959, he and Albert Kalonji made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Lumumba from the party and formed their own faction, MNC-Kalonji. With the independence of the Republic of the Congo the following summer, Adoula became a senator in Parliament, representing the city of Coquilhatville. He requested that his membership of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions be suspended so that he could devote his time to his new position. Nevertheless he remained well connected with trade unions and labour organizations.
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