POLITICIAN

Thomas Sankara

1949 - 1987

Photo of Thomas Sankara

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Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (French pronunciation: [tɔmɑ izidɔʁ nɔɛl sɑ̃kaʁa]; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist who became President of Burkina Faso from 1983, when he took over in a coup, until his assassination in 1987. After being appointed Prime Minister in 1983, disputes with the sitting government led to Sankara's eventual imprisonment. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Thomas Sankara has received more than 4,960,665 page views. His biography is available in 77 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 69 in 2019). Thomas Sankara is the 1,213th most popular politician (up from 1,433rd in 2019), the most popular biography from Burkina Faso and the most popular Burkinabe Politician.

Thomas Sankara was the president of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. He is most famous for his socialist reforms, including changing the country's name to Burkina Faso, which translates to "the land of upright people."

Memorability Metrics

  • 5.0M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 68.77

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 77

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.10

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.67

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among POLITICIANS

Among politicians, Thomas Sankara ranks 1,213 out of 19,576. Before him are Jens Stoltenberg, Hoshea, Soong Ching-ling, Kim Jong-un, Ilse Koch, and Gustav Stresemann. After him are Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Al-Walid I, Idris of Libya, Agrippina the Elder, Nestor, and Jianwen Emperor.

Most Popular Politicians in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1949, Thomas Sankara ranks 24. Before him are André Rieu, Ken Follett, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Taylor, Sandra Mason, and Slavoj Žižek. After him are Jessica Lange, Bobby Farrell, Carlos the Jackal, George Foreman, Alla Pugacheva, and Sebastián Piñera. Among people deceased in 1987, Thomas Sankara ranks 12. Before him are John Howard Northrop, Louis de Broglie, Gunnar Myrdal, Rita Hayworth, Marguerite Yourcenar, and Fred Astaire. After him are Walter Houser Brattain, Andrey Kolmogorov, Maria von Trapp, William P. Murphy, Pola Negri, and Lawrence Kohlberg.

Others Born in 1949

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Others Deceased in 1987

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In Burkina Faso

Among people born in Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara ranks 1 out of 49. After him are Blaise Compaoré (1951), Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (1957), Michel Kafando (1942), Maurice Yaméogo (1921), Saye Zerbo (1932), Philippe Ouédraogo (1945), Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (1942), Yacouba Sawadogo (1946), Diébédo Francis Kéré (1965), Idrissa Ouédraogo (1954), and Paramanga Ernest Yonli (1956).

Others born in Burkina Faso

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Among POLITICIANS In Burkina Faso

Among politicians born in Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara ranks 1. After him are Blaise Compaoré (1951), Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (1957), Michel Kafando (1942), Maurice Yaméogo (1921), Saye Zerbo (1932), Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (1942), Paramanga Ernest Yonli (1956), Yacouba Isaac Zida (1965), Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla (1958), Gilbert Diendéré (1960), and Gérard Kango Ouédraogo (1925).

Burkinabe born Politicians

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