death_date death_place predecessor birth_place successor religion imagesize nationality party office birth_date term_start spouse image article_title term_end name
16 august 1989 libreville , gabon andré gustave anguilé libreville , gabon jean françois ondo roman catholic 150px gabonese union démocratique et sociale gabonaise foreign minister of gabon 10 november 1912 1961 a wife aubame.jpg jean-hilaire aubame
 1963 jean-hilaire aubame
jean-hilaire aubame

jean-hilaire aubame -lrb- 10 november 1912 -- 16 august 1989 -rrb- was a gabonese politician active during both the colonial and independence periods .
the french journalist pierre péan said that aubame 's training `` as a practicing catholic and a customs official helped to make him an integrated man , one of whom political power was not an end in itself . ''
born into a fang family , aubame was orphaned at a young age .
he was raised by the stepbrother of léon m'ba , who became aubame 's chief political rival .
encouraged by his colleagues , aubame entered politics , serving as gabon 's first representative in the national assembly of france from 1946 to 1958 .
aubame was also a leader in solving african problems , particularly developing the gabonese standard of living and planning urban sites .
aubame 's quick rise in gabonese politics was spurred by the support of the missions and administration , whereas much of m'ba 's strength came from the colonists .
despite a rivalry , aubame and m'ba , now the president of gabon , formed several political unions which were sufficiently politically balanced to appeal to the electorate .
in appreciation for his help , m'ba appointed aubame as foreign minister and later president of the supreme court .
tensions soon rose between the two due to aubame 's refusal to merge his party with m'ba 's and create a single-party state .
aubame was installed as president of gabon during a 1964 coup d'état against m'ba .
however , the coup was toppled three days later , and although he did not participate in the coup 's planning , aubame was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor and 10 years of exile .
he was beaten almost daily by his prison guards while serving out his sentence .
m'ba 's successor as president , omar bongo , allowed the return of aubame to gabon in 1972 .
the elder politician died in 1989 in gabon 's capital of libreville .
