Marie-Antoinette Mobutu
Marie-Antoinette Mobutu | |
---|---|
First Lady of Zaire | |
In office 1955–1982 | |
President | Mobutu Sese Seko |
Succeeded by | Bobi Ladawa Mobutu |
Personal details | |
Born | Marie-Antoinette Gbiatibwa Gogbe Yetene c. 1941 Banzyville, Équateur Province, Belgian Congo |
Died | 22 October 1977 Genolier, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland | (aged 35–36)
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 9 (including Kongulu Mobutu) |
Marie-Antoinette Mobutu (born Marie-Antoinette Gbiatibwa Gogbe Yetene; c. 1941 in Banzyville), also known as Mama Mobutu was the first wife of Mobutu Sese Seko and First Lady of Zaire.
Biography[]
Marie-Antoinette was born in Banzyville (modern-day Mobayi-Mbongo) in Équateur Province in c.1941 while the Congo was still under Belgian colonial rule. She was an ethnic Ngbandi. She met and married Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, a member of the same ethnic group and then a non-commissioned officer in the Force Publique, in 1955 at the age of 14.[1] That same year, she gave birth to their first son, Jean-Paul "Nyiwa". She attended Catholic mission schools and had supported the Roman Catholic Church despite her husband's later struggle with the Catholic clergy.[2][1]
Children[]
Marie Antoinette bore the most out of all of Mobutu's wives, a total of nine children:
- Jean-Paul "Nyiwa";
- Ngombo;
- Manda;
- Konga;
- Ngawali;
- Yango;
- Yakpwa;
- Kongulu;
- and Ndagbia.
Death[]
Marie-Antoinette died of heart failure on 22 October 1977 in Genolier, Switzerland, at the age of 36. A vast mausoleum was raised in her honor. She is buried in the Gombe commune in Kinshasa, where the president's residence is placed.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Rich, Jeremy (2014). "Mobutu, Marie-Antoinette". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.50425. ISBN 9780195301731. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
- ^ "Destins de famille(s) – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
- 1940s births
- 1977 deaths
- Deaths in Switzerland
- First Ladies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo women
- Democratic Republic of the Congo women in politics
- Mobutu Sese Seko