Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (born May 7, 1945 in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

) is a Congolese retired teacher and public figure who has held the role of

First Lady of the Republic of the Congo 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. The country's current first lady is Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, ...

since 1997 as the wife of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

. She also held the position of First Lady from 1979 to 1992 during her husband's first presidential tenure.

Biography

Sassou Nguesso was born Antoinette Loemba Tchibota on May 7, 1945, in

to Pascal Loemba Tchibota and Marie-Louise Djembo. Her parents, who were originally from Kakamoéka, divorced when she was a child. Her mother later remarried to her second husband, François Gallo Poto, a cousin of the Antoinette Gbetigbia Gogbe Yetene (d. 1977), first wife of

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

, the President of

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

. Sassou Nguesso's mother, who became known as Mama Poto Galo, died in January 2005 and was buried in Gombe Cemetery in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

in the neighboring

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Following her parents' divorce, Sassou Nguesso was raised in both

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

and Brazzaville. She attended elementary school in both cities, before enrolling in a girl's college in Mouyondzi. Sassou Nguesso is a retired teacher. Sassou Nguesso has been president of a Congolese NGO, the Congo Assistance Foundation (''la Fondation Congo Assistance''), since its establishment on May 7, 1984. The first lady routinely travels with her personal hairdresser, the Brazzaville-based stylist Amédée Ebono, on all official trips. In June 2016, Sassou Nguesso was subpoenaed to appear in an American court while traveling in Washington D.C. The case stems from an ongoing 1980 debt dispute between the American company Commisimpex and the Congolese government under President

. The company maintains that it was never compensated for its work by the Sassou Nguesso government. First Lady Sassou Nguesso was summoned to the U.S. court to answer questions regarding her family's assets, as well as government finances. Antoinette Sassou Nguesso ignored the subpoena and did not appear in court. Sassou Nguesso's family remains the subject of several legal and financial investigations in the U.S. and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The

French Ministry of Justice The Minister of Justice (french: Ministre de la Justice), also known as the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals (''Ministre de la Justice, garde des Sceaux''), is a cabinet position in the Government of France. The current Minister of Justi ...

seized a real estate complex located in the

17th arrondissement of Paris The 17th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le dix-septième'' (; "the seventeenth"). The arrondissement, known as Batignoll ...

which had been purchased in Antoinette Sassou Nguesso's name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sassou Nguesso, Antoinette Living people 1945 births First Ladies of the Republic of the Congo People from Brazzaville People from Pointe-Noire