1918 — The Birth of Chad's First President

On June 15, 1918, François Tombalbaye was born in the village of Bessada, in what is now southern Chad. He began as a teacher and trade unionist, work that carried him through colonial politics and toward the leadership of a country that did not yet govern itself as an independent nation.

He rose to lead Chad to independence in 1960, becoming its first president. But his rule grew autocratic, and in 1975 his own army overthrew and killed him in a coup, the opening act of decades of Chadian instability. His life thus traces Chad's early arc, from a village birth to independence, then to turmoil.