Person

Sylvanus Olympio

1902–1963 · 20th century

Sylvanus Olympio (1902–1963) was a Togolese businessman and nationalist who led French Togoland to independence. He headed the Committee of Togolese Unity, became prime minister after UN-supervised elections in 1958 and president of independent Togo in 1960. He was assassinated in January 1963 in the first military coup in post-independence Africa.

Sylvanus Olympio
Image: Ludwig Wegmann · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

French Togoland

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sylvanus Olympio. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sylvanus-olympio
MLA
“Sylvanus Olympio.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sylvanus-olympio. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sylvanus Olympio.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sylvanus-olympio.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sylvanus Olympio’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sylvanus-olympio (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻