Michel Micombero (26 August 1940 – 16 July 1983) was a Burundian politician and army officer who ruled the country as its first president and de facto dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. Micombero was an ethnic Tutsi who began his career as an officer in the Burundian army at the time of Burundi's independence in 1962. He studied abroad and was given a ministerial portfolio on his return. He rose to prominence for his role in helping to crush an attempted coup d'état in October 1965 by ethnic Hutu soldiers against the country's monarchy, itself Tutsi. In its aftermath, in 1965 and 1966, Micombero himself instigated two further coups against the monarchy which he perceived as too moderate. The first coup forced the incumbent king into exile, propelling Micombero to the role of pr