First Lady of the
Republic of the Congo
Incumbent
Antoinette Sassou Nguesso
since October 25, 1997
Inaugural holderMarie Massamba-Debat [fr]
FormationAugust 16, 1963

The First Lady of the Republic of the Congo (French: Première Dame de la République du Congo) is the title attributed to the wife of the president of the Republic of the Congo.[1][2] The country's current first lady is Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, wife of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who had held the position since October 25, 1997.[2] There has been no first gentleman of the Republic of the Congo to date.

List of first ladies of the Republic of the Congo

Name Portrait Term Began Term Ended President Notes
Position vacant August 15, 1960 August 15, 1963 Fulbert Youlou President Youlou, a Roman Catholic priest, was unmarried.
Marie Massamba-Debat [fr] August 16, 1963 September 4, 1968 Alphonse Massamba-Débat Born c. 1928, Marie Massamba-Debat was the first First Lady of the Republic of Congo.[3] She died on October 13, 1993, in Nantes, France.[3]
? September 5, 1968 January 1, 1969 Alfred Raoul Alfred Raoul married Émilienne Raoul prior to his death in 1999.[4]
Clotilde Ngouabi January 1, 1969 March 18, 1972 Marien Ngouabi Clotilde Ngouabi (née Martin[5]), who was from Walscheid, France, was President Ngouabi's first wife. The couple married in 1962 and had two children before their divorce in 1972.[5][6]
Céline Ngouabi [fr] December 31, 1972 March 18, 1977 Marien Ngouabi Céline Ngouabi was President Ngouabi's second wife. The couple married in 1972, shortly after his divorce from Clotilde.[5]
Marie-Noëlle Yhombi-Opango [fr] April 24, 1977 February 5, 1979 Joachim Yhombi-Opango
Antoinette Sassou Nguesso February 8, 1979 August 31, 1992 Denis Sassou Nguesso First tenure as first lady
Jocelyne Lissouba [fr] August 31, 1992 August 25, 1997 Pascal Lissouba Lissouba, born Marie-Jocelyne Rosdam, was a French national
Antoinette Sassou Nguesso August 31, 1997 Present Denis Sassou Nguesso

References

  1. ^ Kouassi, Carole (2016-06-27). "La Première dame du Congo convoquée devant la justice ce lundi, aux Etats-Unis". Africanews. Archived from the original on 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  2. ^ a b Kouassi, Carole (2016-06-27). "Congo-Brazza: la Première dame ne s'est pas rendue à la convocation des avocat". Radio France Internationale. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  3. ^ a b Wilfried Douniama, Perfect (2019-11-23). "Souvenir : un hommage à Marie Massamba-Débat, première "première dame" du Congo". Agence d'Information d'Afrique Centrale. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  4. ^ [1][permanent dead link] Biography of Émilienne Raoul from the Congolese Consulate in New Delhi.
  5. ^ a b c "La boite à archives 1977: Clotilde Martin, de Walscheid, première dame du Congo". Le Républicain Lorrain. 2017-03-18. Archived from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  6. ^ Sanz, Lionel (2017-09-15). "Clotilde Marin-Ngouabi, la petite ouvrière lorraine devenue première dame du Congo". DMCARC. Archived from the original on 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
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