RUDN returned the name of Patrice Lumumba

RUDN returned the name of Patrice Lumumba



The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) has been given back the name of Patrice Lumumba, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in response to the proposal of Leonid Slutsky, leader of the LDPR Duma faction.

“I want to please you, Leonid Eduardovich. I know that literally a couple of hours ago, an order was signed by the Minister of Science and Education to return the name of Patrice Lumumba to the university, ”said the head of government (quoted from TASS).

The day before, March 22, during a speech in the State Duma, Mr. Slutsky named Patrice Lumumba as a "great political figure" and called for his name to be returned to the name of RUDN University. The proposal was supported by the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

“The return of the name of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, is symbolic, because he died for his position in support of the country, fighting for its sovereignty and independence. He was killed for anti-Western statements and an anti-Western position in the interests of his state,” Mr. Volodin emphasized.

Peoples' Friendship University was founded in the USSR in 1960. The Council of Ministers of the USSR assigned the name of the African fighter for national independence Patrice Lumumba to RUDN University in February 1961. A month before this, the politician (with the sanction of the former metropolis of the country - Belgium) was killed by supporters of the pro-Belgian party. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in February 1992, the Russian government (the only founder of the university then and now) removed the name of Patrice Lumumba from the name of the university.

In February, the initiative to return the name of Patrice Lumumba to RUDN University noted Russian Foreign Ministry. The department considered that the return of the name to the university would “give an additional impetus” to the development of friendly relations between the Russian Federation and partners in Africa.

Read more about the anti-colonial discourse in modern international politics in the material "Kommersant" "Time to repent".

Grigory Leiba



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