Odette Nyiramilimo (born 1956) is a
Rwandan physician and senator. She served as Minister of State for Social Affairs in the government of
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...
from March 2000 to October 2003.
Background
Nyiramilimo, an ethnic
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...
, was born in Kinunu,
Gisenyi
Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Overview
The city features a resort on t ...
prefecture in 1956. She is seventeenth of her father's eighteen children, born to his second wife.
Education
In 1981 she graduated as a medical doctor from the
National University of Rwanda
The National University of Rwanda (NUR; rw, Kaminuza nkuru y’u Rwanda, french: Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government i ...
in
Butare
Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population.
History
The Belgian colonial rulers establish ...
.
Personal life
At age three many members of her family were killed in the power struggles following independence. She experienced an eventful childhood, including expulsion from school because she was Tutsi.
She later married Jean-Baptiste Gasasira, also a physician, and the two later founded a private maternity and pediatrics practice in
Kigali called ''Le Bon Samaritain'' ("
Good Samaritan
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
")
Her life story was profiled at length in
Philip Gourevitch
Philip Gourevitch (born 1961), an American author and journalist, is a longtime staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' and a former editor of ''The Paris Review''.
His most recent book is '' The Ballad of Abu Ghraib'' (2008), an account of Iraq's ...
's book ''
''.
She has 3 children;
Clement Uwajeneza (born 1980), Ariane Inkesha (born 1982) and Patrick Cyusa Kinyange (born 1987)
Career
She worked in Kibuye hospital
She served as Minister of State for Social Affairs in the government of
Rwanda from March 2000 to October 2003.
References
External links
Frontline: The Triumph of Evil Excerpt of program mentioning Nyiramilimo extensively
Rwandan physicians
People from Western Province, Rwanda
Social affairs ministers of Rwanda
Tutsi people
Members of the Senate (Rwanda)
Women government ministers of Rwanda
20th-century Rwandan women politicians
20th-century Rwandan politicians
21st-century Rwandan women politicians
21st-century Rwandan politicians
1956 births
Living people
{{Rwanda-politician-stub