Chantal de Souza Yayi (born ?) is a Beninese politician and former

First Lady of Benin First Lady of Benin ( French: ''Première Dame de la République de Bénin'') is the title attributed to the wife of the President of Benin. Claudine Talon, wife of Patrice Talon, became first lady on her husband's election as president on April ...

from 2006 until 2016. She is the wife of former Beninese President

Thomas Boni Yayi Thomas Boni Yayi (born 1 July 1951) is a Beninese banker and politician who was President of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in March 2011. He also s ...

Biography

Chantal de Souza Yayi, a native of

Ouidah Ouidah () or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch) and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Repub ...

, is a member of the prominent

De Souza family The De Souza family, otherwise known as the De Sousa family, is a prominent Beninese clan. Its founder, Francisco Felix de Sousa, was the Brazilian-born viceroy of Ouidah in the Kingdom of Dahomey. History After immigrating from Bahia in Brazi ...

, who are originally of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian descent, based around the

coastal city Coastal City () is a shopping and office complex in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China. Located in the central business district of Nanshan, it occupies an entire city block bounded by Binhai, Nanhai, Houhai, Houhaibin and Chuangye Roads. Overvie ...

. She has ten siblings, including her late older brother, Marcel Alain de Souza (1953–2019), a banker and former President of the

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

Commission. Yayi is a great granddaughter of

Francisco Félix de Sousa Francisco Félix de Souza (4 October 1754 – 8 May 1849) was a Brazilian slave trader who was deeply influential in the regional politics of pre-colonial West Africa (namely, current-day Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Togo). He founded Afro-Braz ...

, who was a Brazilian slave trader and the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

. She is the niece of

Isidore de Souza Isidore de Souza (4 April 1934 – 13 March 1999) was a Beninese priest who was Archbishop of Cotonou from 1990 to 1999. He was born into the aristocratic De Souza family of Ouidah on 4 April 1934. He was the uncle of Chantal Yayi, who serve ...

, who served as the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotonou The Archdiocese of Cotonou ( la, Archidioecesis Cotonuensis) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Cotonou in Benin. History * 1883.06.26: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Dahomey from the Apostolic Vicariate of Beni ...

from 1990 until 1999. Her older brother, Marcel de Souza, introduced her to her future husband,

. She and Boni Yayi have five children. In 2008, Chantal Yayi and Thomas Boni Yayi, who is a descendant of the

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

princes of

Sabe This incomplete list of characters from the ''Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt Dis ...

in his own right, were awarded

chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

titles by the

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n king of Ile-Ife,

Olubuse II Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, or Sijuade, (1 January 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth traditional ruler or ''Ooni'' of Ife from 1980 to his death in 2015, taking the regnal name Olubuse II. Ife is a traditional Yoruba state based in th ...

. As first lady, Yayi focused on of education and healthcare. In preparation for the

2016 Beninese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Benin on 6 March 2016, having been delayed by one week due to logistical constraints. Incumbent President Thomas Boni Yayi was at the end of his second presidential term and was constitutionally barred from run ...

, Yayi helped her brother set up a small political party, the Republican Front for a Patriotic Alternative, or ''Front républicain pour une alternative patriotique'', (Frap), which Marcel Alain de Souza chaired and used to launch his presidential candidacy. However, Marcel de Souza received only 0.13% of the vote. In 2021, Yayi reportedly suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

following months of health problems. She was initially treated in the

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensiv ...

of Centre National Hospitalier Universitaire-Hubert Maga (CNHU) in

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

before being flown to a hospital in Europe for additional treatment in early May 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yayi, Chantal Living people 1949 births Place of birth unknown First Ladies of Benin People from Ouidah People from Atlantique Department People from Plateau Department Beninese people of Brazilian descent Beninese people of Portuguese descent 21st-century Beninese women politicians