Clotilde Ngouabi née Martin (4 June 1940 –30 October 2019) was a French-born public figure who served as the first First Lady of the Republic of the Congo from 1969 to 1972, as the wife of President Marien Ngouabi.[1][2][3][4]

Clotilde Ngouabi
First Lady of the Republic of the Congo
In office
1 January 1969 – 18 March 1972
PresidentMarien Ngouabi
Preceded byMarie Massamba-Debat
Succeeded byCéline Ngouabi
Personal details
Born
Clotilde Martin

(1940-06-04)4 June 1940[1]
Walscheid,[2] France
Died30 October 2019(2019-10-30) (aged 79)
Strasbourg, France
SpouseMarien Ngouabi
Children2

Biography edit

Martin was born in Walscheid, France.[2] Her father Jean-Baptiste Martin was the lumberjack in the region. After the municipal school, she joined the Troisfontaines glass factory as a worker, before moving to Strasbourg. There she met young Marien Ngouabi, a Congolese student at the Saint-Cyr Special Military School. They married in 1962 and moved to Congo where Ngouabi, promoted to lieutenant, took up his post in the Congolese army before becoming the third president of the Republic of Congo in 1968, and Martin became the First Lady.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Clotilde Martin, l'ouvrière devenue Première dame, est décédée". Le Républicain Lorrain. 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Congo – France : Décès de Clotilde Ngouabi". Les Echos.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ 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.