Born in Chad (1918), François Tombalbaye worked as a teacher and quickly formed part of the political life of his nation as a leader of the Chadian Progressive Party, leading Chad´s colonial government in 1959. He guided the country to independence, and in 1960 he was elected as the first president.

Making the most of his position, he dissolved the opposition parties and nationalised services. Criticisms to his government´s management, tensions between the various ethnic groups that comprised the country, and the start of a civil war in 1965 were some of the circumstances he had to face during his term of office. Ten years later, he was overthrown and assassinated, while Chad´s internal tensions continued to exist.

Source: Wikipedia