Ruben Um Nyobè
Mpodol, the spokesman of Cameroon's independence movement
Born in 1913 · Died in 1958
Who are they?
A nationalist leader born in 1913 in Bassa country, near Boumnyébel. A civil servant turned trade unionist, in 1948 he became secretary-general of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), which called for the territory's reunification and independence.
What made them famous
In 1952 and 1954 he argued before the United Nations for Cameroon's reunification and a timetable for independence. After the French government banned the UPC in 1955, he went underground; he was killed by the French army on 13 September 1958, in the maquis near Boumnyébel.
Key facts
- His nickname, "Mpodol", means "the one who speaks for his people" in Bassa.
- Any mention of his name was long prohibited in Cameroon; a law of 16 December 1991 rehabilitated him, along with other figures of the country's history.
- In August 2025, following a report by a commission of French and Cameroonian historians, Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France's responsibility for his death.