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Undated: Andreé Blouin moved into politics after experiencing the violence and humiliation of colonialism. (Photograph by Getty Images)
Andreé Blouin is best known as the powerful advisor to Patrice Lumumba, but much of the focus on the activist has been on only small parts of her dedication to freedom. Her brand of African nationalism and feminism dismantled preconceived notions of race and gender on a colonised continent that often excluded women from politics – or diminished their contributions to “the wife of”. It is necessary to remove Blouin from the shadow of Lumumba, so she is fully recognised for her particular, singular political actions.