born August 1924, Garoua, Cameroon
died Nov. 30, 1989, Dakar, Senegal
First president of Cameroon, 1960–82.
He presided over one of the few successful attempts at African unity: the joining of the southern half of the former British Cameroons with the larger French-speaking Cameroun. In 1982, after managing to build up a stable, relatively prosperous nation (through single-party rule), he went into exile after being implicated in a plot against his successor, Paul Biya.