Thomas Sankara was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, a West African country whose name changed to Burkina Faso in 1984. He was born on August 4, 1949, in Yoff, near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. His parents were peasants who lived in extreme poverty.
Sankara studied at Korhogo University and the University of Ouagadougou, where he received a degree in political studies. He became politically active at an early age and joined the Union of Students of Upper Volta (USUT) at the age of 15
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He was an activist for the poor, land reform, women's rights, and national independence from French colonial rule.
After graduation he became assistant director of the office of the USUT president. In 1972 he became director general of Groupe d'action démocratique africain (GADE) (Democratic Action Group). During his tenure as director general he organized agricultural cooperatives for small farmers and villagers throughout Upper Volta.
He also organized cooperatives for women farmers and small traders throughout Upper Volta.
His main concern was organizing peasants into cooperatives to take control of their own economic interests. This led him to form a new political party called Mouvement populaire de la Révolution (MPR). The party was formed on April 8, 1974 with Sankara as its president.
He named it after Simon Bolivar's Liberator's Movement to express his belief that it would be his movement which would liberate Upper Volta from French colonial rule.
The party had its origins in the USUT but had a different orientation than its predecessor. The USUT had been dominated by students who were influenced by Marxism and supported by Soviet and Communist Bloc countries such as Tanzania and Mozambique for this reason. The MPR, in contrast, had a more nationalist orientation and was supported by African countries such as Liberia and Guinea that had friendly relations with France; these relationships had been established during the colonial era when many Africans came to France for education and were recruited back to their home countries by French agents after they returned home to overthrow their own governments.
Between 1981 and 1983 Sankara travelled abroad on state visits in an effort to improve his country's relationship with foreign powers; however, when he returned home he found that many Africans who supported him were disillusioned and left GADE because they felt betrayed by him for
