Frage: 1972 Rwanda 200-francs

[villa66]

On the Italian forum a question has been asked: on Rwanda's 1972 200-franc piece (KM11), one of the two men pictured on the obverse is the country's first president, Gregoire Kayibanda; but who is the other?

If anyone knows, I'll be happy to relay the answer and give proper credit. Here is where I've left it....

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I agree, he doesn’t look like U Thant (I looked and looked again for eyeglasses but….).

This is a surprisingly tough question—I’ve looked around and have tried several different scenarios. I’ll look some more later on, but I’m back on my (very small!) 10-centesimi project. I do hope you’ll let us know if you decide on an answer.

But please let me say why I’m quitting for now: I thought maybe the person-to-person image might possibly be apocryphal, maybe an image of a power handoff from Kayibanda to his successor. (The 1972 date is very close to the ’73 Coup.) But checking on Kayibanda’s death date made me aware of the 1973-1976 gap. What had happened?

This is what Wikipedia reports: “The new government held Kayibanda and his wife in a secret location (rumored to be a house near Kabgayi), where they were reportedly starved to death.”

“…starved to death.” And this is an FAO coin.

v.

[Mynter]

This is a tough one. I do not have an answer but perhaps the description in Schoens Weltmünzen might give us a clou. According to Schoen the coin depicts a welcome scene on the occasion of the independence in 1962.
Looking closer at the coin it appears to me that the guy on the right side is handing over a book ( the constitution of Rwanda perhaps ? ) to Kayibanda. If we now manage to establish who was present at the celebration of independence on 1. july 1962 , we probably might be able to identify the man on the right. Could he be the former belgian gouvernor ? Or maybe the chairman og the rwandian parliament ?

[KarlAntonMartini]

Or the former belgian PM Theo Lefevre or his deputy Paul-Henri Spaak? - I haven't found a photo of the ceremony. Best regards, KarlAntonMartini

[Mynter]

Or the former belgian PM Theo Lefevre or his deputy Paul-Henri Spaak? - I haven't found a photo of the ceremony. Best regards, KarlAntonMartini

Too skinny for Spaak : https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul-Henri_Spaak. Lefevre perhaps : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9o_Lef%C3%A8vre ?

[klaupo]

Mein Vorschlag wäre der letzte belgische Minister für afrikanische Angelegenheiten (Ministre des affaires africaines) Harold d'Aspremont Lynden

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ch ... ont_Lynden

Das Portrait entspricht m.E. weitestgehend seiner Physiognomie. Mit etwas Phantasie erkennt man auf der Münze sogar seinen Schnurrbart.

Gruß klaupo

[Mynter]

Du hast sicher recht, klaupo. Ich dachte auch bereits beim ersten Betrachten der Münze, dass die Gestalt zur rechten einen Schnurrbart trägt.

[villa66]

Many thanks, guys. Here’s what I posted on the Italian forum a few minutes ago….

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I put your question to the members of the German forum, and their performance was just as good as has been previously reported here on our Italian forum.

Three particularly well-versed members of that forum quickly took up the question, and one whose nick is “klaupo” found what really seems to be the answer: Harold Charles d’Aspremont Lynden, who that time was in his last year as Belgium’s Minister for African Affairs. (The precise date and locale of the handover depicted on the coin is still unknown to me, but I believe it was December 1961 in Belgium.)

I’ve PM’d the link to the conversation to you, as well as the link within the conversation provided by klaupo.

Thanks, lopezcoins, for the enjoyable—and educational—chase.

v.