Gladys Molefi Olebile Masire, Lady Masire (30 July 1931 – 17 May 2014) was a

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

teacher and political figure who served as the longest ruling

First Lady of Botswana The first lady of the Republic of Botswana is the wife of the president of Botswana. The current first lady is Neo Masisi, the wife of President Mokgweetsi Masisi. The role is largely ceremonial and has no salary. President Masisi has said that ...

from 1980 until 1998.

Early life and education

Gladys Molefi Olebile was born in 1931 in the village of Modimola, Mafikeng which was located in the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

. She was the daughter of Fenkwane Mogwera and Mabu Mogwera. From her maternal side, she belonged to the Tawana-a-Tshidi Mina Tholo royal family. After graduating from Tigerkloof, she followed in her mother's footsteps in becoming a teacher for many years, firstly in her hometown of Mafikeng and later at Kanye, Bechuanaland.

Career

In the 1980s, Lula Horace, the wife of U.S. Ambassador

Horace Dawson Horace Greeley Dawson, Jr. (born January 30, 1926) was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Botswana. Life and career Dawson was born in Augusta, Georgia on January 30, 1926. After graduation from high school, Dawson ...

, helped Olebile Masire establish Botswana's first charity. This charity was called the Child-to-Child Foundation of Botswana, and she was an honorary president of the foundation in 1996. In 1990, Olebile Masire was a member of the Mandela National Reception Committee that helped prepare for Nelson Mandela's June 1990 visit to

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

after his release from

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

Personal life

She was married to the late former President of

Sir Quett Ketumile Masire in 1958 and had six children.

Honors

Olebile Masire was the Patron of the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

Botswana from 1989 until 2013. In the 1996/97 school year, the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. Th ...

established the Lady Olebile Masire Prize in her name. This award is given to a student with the highest grades in the Faculty of Engineering. Olebile Masire was posthumously given the Presidential Order of Honour Award in 2016 by President

Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...

Death

On 17 May 2014, Lady (Gladys) Olebile Masire died at

Milpark Hospital The Milpark Hospital is a private hospital in western Parktown, Johannesburg, in the area known as Milpark, and owned by Netcare Limited. It has a level 1 accredited trauma unit, and cardiology and cardio-thoracic services. It has 346 beds, of ...

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Park ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. She was buried in

Kanye, Botswana Kanye is a village in southern Botswana, located south-west of the capital, Gaborone. It is the administrative centre of the Southern District, and had a population of 45,196 at the 2011 census, making it the eighth-largest village in the coun ...

, on 25 May 2014, a week later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masire, Gladys Olebile 1931 births 2014 deaths First Ladies of Botswana Botswana educators Spouses of national leaders