Patrice Ã mery Lumumba ( July 2 , 1925 â `` January 17 , 1961 ) was the only elected leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( called the Republic of the Congo at the time , but this should not be confused with today 's Republic of the Congo ) . Patrice Ã mery Lumumba ( 2 July 1925 â `` 17 January 1961 ) was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960 . Only ten weeks later , Lumumba 's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis .