Marie-Antoinette 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.

Marie-Antoinette Mobutu
Marie-Antoinette and Mobutu arrive in Kinshasa in April 1977.
First Lady of Zaire
In office
24 November 1965 – 22 October 1977
PresidentMobutu Sese Seko
Succeeded byBobi Ladawa Mobutu
Personal details
Born
Marie-Antoinette Gbiatibwa Gogbe Yetene

c. 1941
Banzyville, Équateur Province, Belgian Congo
Died22 October 1977(1977-10-22) (aged 35–36)
Genolier, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1955; her death 1977)​
Children9 (including Kongulu Mobutu)

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.

She is buried in Rabat Morocco

Death

Marie-Antoinette died of heart failure on 22 October in Genolier, Switzerland, at the age of 36. A vast mausoleum was raised in her honor. She is buried in Rabat Morocco

References
  1. Rich, Jeremy (2014). "Mobutu, Marie-Antoinette". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.50425. ISBN 9780195301731. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  2. "Destins de famille(s) – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
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