Nicolas Grunitzky

Nicolas Grunitzky (April 5, 1913 – September 27, 1969) was the third president of Togo. He was President from 1963 to 1967.

Biography

He was born in Atakpamé to a German father (of Polish origin) and a Togolese mother. He studied civil engineering at the ESTP inParis and was a public administrator before leaving to form his own company. He was the secretary-general of the Parti togolais du progrès (Togolese Party of Progress) and elected into office with the Togolose Parliament in 1951.Grunitzky also served in the French national assembly 1951-1958. He was Prime Minister of the Republic of Togo from September 12, 1956 but went into exile after being deposed on May 16, 1958.

Grunitzky was appointed president by the "Insurrection Committee" headed by Emmanuel Bodjollé following a coup d'état that ended with the assassination of president (and Grunitzky's brother-in-law) Sylvanus Olympio. This was the first military coup in Western Africa following independence, and was organized by a group of soldiers under the direction of Sergeant Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadema. Nicolas Grunitzky attempted to unify the country by including several political parties in his government. However, he was toppled in a bloodless military coup led by now-Lt. Col Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadema and was exiled to Paris.

He was injured in a car accident in Côte d'Ivoire, and died from complications in a hospital in Paris in 1969.

References

• page on the French national assembly website

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 27 May 2005).

Preceded by none	Prime Minister of Togo 1956–1958	Succeeded by Sylvanus Olympio
Preceded by Emmanuel Bodjollé	President of Togo 1963–1967	Succeeded by Kléber Dadjo

Persondata
Name	Grunitzky, Nicolas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 5, 1913
Place of birth
Date of death	September 27, 1969
Place of death