Joseph Cimpaye

Joseph Cimpaye (1929May 1972) was a Burundian politician and writer. Born into an educated family from the Hutu ethnic group, Cimpaye was considered one of Burundi's leading intellectuals in the late colonial period. He became involved in politics under Belgian colonial rule within the minor Christian Democratic Party ("Parti démocratique chrétien", PDC) which was opposed by the more popular anti-colonial Union for National Progress ("Union pour le Progres national", UPRONA). In 1961, he briefly held the position of prime minister before UPRONA was decisively returned in the country's first elections ahead of Burundi's independence in July 1962. Although retiring from politics, he was later arrested under the regime of Michel Micombero in 1969. While imprisoned, he wrote "L'Homme de ma colline" which has been acclaimed as the first Burundian novel but which remained unpublished in his lifetime. He was among a number of influential Hutus killed in the genocidal violence of 1972 instigated by the Micombero regime.
Biography.
Cimpaye was born in 1929 in Mugera, Gitega Province in Ruanda-Urundi which was then under Belgian rule. A member of the Hutu ethnic group, his father had been employed as a medical assistant ("assistant médical") and was literate. This background enabled Cimpaye to receive further education at the Groupe Scolaire d'Astrida where he graduated as a veterinary technician in 1951. As one writer has noted, Cimpaye's élite background and education made him "an intellectual almost without peers in his era in Burundi".
He entered colonial-era politics within the minor conservative Christian Democratic Party ("Parti démocratique chrétien", PDC) which formed part of an electoral coalition called the Union of Popular Parties ("Union des parties populaires", UPP) against the more popular Union for National Progress ("Union pour le Progrès national", UPRONA) under Prince Louis Rwagasore. Cimpaye served briefly as prime minister of an interim government between 26 January to 28 September 1961 shortly before the country gained full independence from Belgian colonial rule. However, UPRONA won the country's first elections decisively in September 1961 and Rwagasore replaced Cimpaye as prime minister. Rwagasore's assassination in October the same year, attributed to supporters of the PDC, led to the radicalisation of politics in Burundi and forced Cimpaye to leave politics to pursue studies in Europe. Burundi became independent in July 1962.
After returning to Burundi, Cimpaye worked for the Belgian airline Sabena as its head of public relations in Bujumbura. He was distrusted by Michel Micombero who came to power at the head of a radical Tutsi regime after a series of coups d'état in 1965–66. Cimpaye was arrested in October 1969 for "endangering state security" and imprisoned for five years. During this time, he authored a French-language novel entitled "L'homme de ma colline" (, or 'District') which followed the struggles of a protagonist named Benedikto living in a rural part of Burundi during the colonial era. It addressed the theme of exile and has been praised for its use of language, particular Kirundi proverbs in translation. It has been hailed as the country's first novel although it remained unpublished until 2012 when it was distributed by the Archives et musée de la littérature based in Brussels, Belgium. Cimpaye was among a number of Hutu public figures killed in the genocidal violence of 1972 under the Micombero regime.