Conductor politician

Pi scholar

Pi ideological extremist

Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover 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

While he was under house arrest, a group of revolutionaries seized power on his behalf in a popularly-supported coup later that year

Became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms

Oversaw the renaming of the country to Burkina Faso ('land of the upright people') in 1984, and personally wrote its national anthem

His foreign policy was centred on anti-imperialism and he rejected loans and capital from organizations such as the International Monetary Fund

He welcomed some foreign aid in an effort to boost the domestic economy, diversify the sources of assistance, and make Burkina Faso self-sufficient