1. Thomas Rudolphe Kanza or Nsenga Kanza was a Congolese diplomat.
25 Facts About Thomas Kanza
1. 2.
Thomas Kanza was one of the first Congolese nationals to graduate from a university.
3.
From Mobutu's ousting in 1997 until his own death, Kanza served in diplomatic roles for the Congo.
4.
Thomas Kanza was born on 10 October 1933 in Leopoldville, Belgian Congo.
5.
Thomas Kanza was the son of Daniel Kanza, who would emerge in the 1950s as a leader of the ABAKO party.
6.
Thomas Kanza was the very first Congolese national to receive a college education in an area other than theology, studying at the Universite catholique de Louvain from 1952 to 1956, and earning a degree in economics.
7.
Thomas Kanza then spent a year at Harvard University in the United States before subsequently taking a position with the European Economic Community in Brussels.
8.
Thomas Kanza met future prime minister Patrice Lumumba in 1955, whom he would eventually become friends with.
9.
Thomas Kanza was a member of the Union des Interets Sociaux Congolais, a Leopoldville-based cultural society for leaders of elite Congolese associations.
10.
When plans for a Congolese Round Table Conference on the future of the Belgian Congo were announced in late 1959, Thomas Kanza took up a position as a liaison between the various participating parties.
11.
Thomas Kanza formally invited the popular Congolese bands Le Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz and OK Jazz to come perform at the talks.
12.
Thomas Kanza envisioned a post-colonial Congo as a Belgo-Congolese community up until the country became independent.
13.
Thomas Kanza weighed his options for the Minister of Foreign Affairs between Kanza, Andre Mandi, and Justin Bomboko.
14.
Thomas Kanza mistrusted Bomboko, whom the Belgians supported and with whom he had political differences.
15.
Thomas Kanza, who was well acquainted with Bomboko, suggested that he himself be made Delegate to the United Nations with ministerial status, so he could operate with autonomy, while Bomboko should receive charge of Foreign Affairs, because he was an elected deputy and had more political support.
16.
Thomas Kanza approached Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko for help, but was informed that there was little they could do.
17.
Thomas Kanza then appealed to United States President-elect John F Kennedy through Eleanor Roosevelt, asking that he intervene to protect Lumumba.
18.
Thomas Kanza then served as the representative for Antoine Gizenga's brief rival government based in Stanleyville.
19.
In 1962, Thomas Kanza, having rejoined the central government, was transferred to be charge d'affaires of the United Kingdom embassy.
20.
Thomas Kanza soon entered a dispute with the new prime minister, Moise Tshombe, and joined Pierre Mulele's rebel group.
21.
Thomas Kanza later became a professor of politics at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
22.
Thomas Kanza returned to the Congo following the declaration of a general amnesty by Mobutu on 21 May 1983.
23.
Thomas Kanza took advantage of the liberalisation to reestablish his family's political base in Kongo Central.
24.
In June 1997, Thomas Kanza was appointed Minister of International Cooperation in the new government of Laurent Kabila.
25.
Thomas Kanza died of a heart attack in London on 25 October 2004, aged 71, while serving as the Congo's ambassador to Sweden.