Thomas Sankara

Thomas Sankara, president of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987, remains an icon of pan-Africanism and anti-imperialism.

He renamed Upper Volta “Burkina Faso” (“land of upright people”) and led policies of self-sufficiency, women's emancipation and African dignity. Assassinated in 1987, “the upright man” still inspires the continent's youth.