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Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Teodoro

(Encyclopedia)Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Teodoro, 1942–, Equatoguinean military and political leader, president of Equatorial Guinea (1979–). He graduated (1963) from Spain's Zaragoza Military Academy while Equator...

Captains' Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Captains' Revolution, coup staged (Apr. 25, 1974) by military officers who opposed Portugal's policy toward its African territories. By early 1974 dissatisfaction with the debilitating, seemingly endl...

scutage

(Encyclopedia)scutage skyo͞oˈtĭj [key], feudal payment, usually in cash, given in lieu of actual military service due from a vassal to an overlord. It applied especially to the vassals of the king. Scutage colle...

Buhari, Muhammadu

(Encyclopedia)Buhari, Muhammadu, 1942–, Nigerian military officer and political leader. A Fulani from Katsina State, he joined the army in 1961; he rose to the rank of general and participated in several coups. H...

Gingrich, Newt

(Encyclopedia)Gingrich, Newt (Newton Leroy Gingrich) gĭngˈgrĭch [key], 1943–, U.S. congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1995–98), b. Harrisburg, Pa., as Newton Leroy McPherson. A histor...

Malraux, André

(Encyclopedia)Malraux, André äNdrāˈ mälrōˈ [key], 1901–76, French man of letters and political figure. An intellectual with a broad knowledge of archaeology, art history, and anthropology, Malraux led a re...

Bouterse, Désiré Delano

(Encyclopedia)Bouterse, Désiré Delano, 1945–, Surinamese military and political leader, president of Suriname (2010–20). He received military training in the Netherlands and was stationed at a German military...

Aung San Suu Kyi

(Encyclopedia)Aung San Suu Kyi ouN săn so͞o chē [key], 1945–, Burmese political leader, B.A. Oxford, 1969, Ph.D. Univ. of London, 1985. The daughter of assassinated (1947) nationalist general U Aung San, who i...

Mengistu Haile Mariam

(Encyclopedia)Mengistu Haile Mariam mĕnggīsˈto͞o hīˈlē märˈēəm [key], 1937–, military ruler of Ethiopia (1974–91). Mengistu, an army officer, participated prominently in Emperor Haile Selassie's over...

Buyoya, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Buyoya, Pierre, 1949–2020, Burundian political leader. An ethnic Tutsi, he had a successful military career before he overthrew President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza and became president of a Tutsi-led mil...