Christophe Soglo (28 June 1909 – 7 October 1983) was a

Beninese Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

military officer and political leader.

Early life

Christophe Soglo was born on 28 June 1909 in

Abomey Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional ...

French Dahomey French Dahomey was a French colony and part of French West Africa from 1894 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with an increased autonomy. On 4 October ...

to a chiefly Fon family.

Military career

In 1931 Soglo voluntarily enlisted in the French Army. He fought during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, serving in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

and participating in the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

' landings in

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

, and

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant, at the end of the war he was made a staff officer for the French Colonial Army. In 1947 he was attached to the French Ministry of Overseas as a military advisor. Securing the rank of captain on 1 January 1950, he was sent to

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

and fought in

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. He was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

in 1956 for his service during the war. While there he met a French-Vietnamese woman whom he later married. Following France's defeat in Indochina he was given the rank of major and stationed in Senegal, where he remained until 1960. After Benin achieved independence in 1960, Soglo was given the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in the army and became its chief of staff under President

Hubert Maga Coutoucou Hubert Maga (August 10, 1916 – May 8, 2000) was a politician from Dahomey (now known as Benin).Dahomey was renamed Benin in 1975. Se''New York Times'' obituary He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what regio ...

Political career

On October 28, 1963, Soglo took control of the country to prevent a civil war.. Soglo had previously declared loyalty to Maga's government. He established a provisional government with himself as chairman after dissolving the national assembly. After reorganizing the government, he gave up power in January 1964 and allowed former premier

Sourou-Migan Apithy Sourou-Migan Marcellin Joseph Apithy (April 8, 1913 – December 3, 1989) was a Beninese political figure most active when his country was known as Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region in Dahomey on ...

to become president. Soon Apithy and other political leaders began massive feuds over policies. After repeatedly encouraging the various political forces to agree to dialogue, Soglo again overthrew the government in November 1965 and served as President of Benin under a military government until December 1967, when a group of younger army officers overthrew him. Soglo then retired from politics. He died on October 7, 1983, at the age of 74.

Citations

References

* * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Soglo, Christophe 1909 births 1983 deaths People of French West Africa Leaders who took power by coup Leaders ousted by a coup Beninese military personnel People from Abomey Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) French military personnel of the First Indochina War Free French military personnel of World War II Military coups in Benin