Catherine Martine Denguiadé, also known as Catherine Bokassa (born 7 August 1949), is a Central African former member of the royal family and the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996) was a Central African politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR), after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d ...

. She was one of several wives of Emperor Bokassa but she became the Empress when he created the

Central African Empire The Central African Empire () was established on 4 December 1976 when the then-President of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, declared himself Emperor of Central Africa. The empire would fall less than three years later when ...

. Her son was chosen as his

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

Life

Denguiadé was born in

Sarh Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive dete ...

in Chad. Her father was from the CAR but her mother was from Chad and that was where she began her education. Her secondary education was in

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

. She married when she was fourteen. She was kidnapped by Bokassa to become his third wife. He would later marry fourteen other women. She was involved in some way in 1977 when her husband's fall from power began. He issued a decree to say that every child attending school in his empire should wear a school uniform. It then appeared that Denguiadé owned the company that made the uniforms. In December 1977 her husband decreed himself

Emperor of Central Africa Emperor of Central Africa () was the title used by Jean-Bédel Bokassa (as Bokassa I) from 4 December 1976 until his deposal in a French coup in September 1979. Bokassa, who had already ruled the Central African Republic (CAR) as a military d ...

and the Central African Republic became the

. He chose to crown Catherine as Empress Consort and she was in an outfit by French fashion house Lanvin. Many of the extravagant items required for the coronation were imported from France. The French President sent eight horses from Normandy to pull their coach. In the event two of the horses died and the couple had to use a car. Her four year old son Jean-Bédel Bokassa Jr. attended the ceremony as the

. He was named

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

(''prince héritier de Centrafrique''). Her son had elder brothers and half-brothers. One of her son's half brothers, Georges, was made a cabinet minister but her husband said he was not strong enough to be an heir. In 1979 she was in Geneva living in exile with her and the ex-Emperor's seven children. She was said to sell a diamond every time she was short of money. After Bokassa died she was supported by friends. In time both she and her children returned to the Central African Republic. At the end of 2010, Catherine accepted a state medal of honour from

François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African Republic, Central African politician who was List of heads of state of the Central African Republic, President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. He was th ...

who was then the Central African Republic President.

Honours

National honours

Dame Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of Bokassa (4 December 1977).

Foreign honours

Order of Korean Labour (

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, 1978)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denguiade, Catherine Martine 1949 births Living people First ladies and gentlemen of the Central African Republic People from Sarh Central African Republic politicians Chadian women Empresses House of Bokassa