Jeanne Martin Cissé (6 April 1926 – 21 February 2017) was a

Guinean Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guinea's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations. Population According to t ...

teacher and nationalist politician who served as ambassador to the United Nations and in 1972 was the first woman to serve as

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. She served in the government of Guinea as Minister of Social Affairs from 1976 until the 1984

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

Early life and education

Martin Cissé was born in

Kankan Kankan ( Mandingo: Kánkàn; N’ko: ߞߊ߲ߞߊ߲߫) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 198,013 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of the ...

, Guinea, on 6 April 1926, the eldest of seven children. Her father (Darricau Martin Cissé), P.T.T. employee for French colonial administration, was

Malinke Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family (itself, possibly linked to the Niger–Congo ...

with Soninke origins (from her paternal grandmother) and her mother (Damaye Soumah), midwife,

Soussou The Susu or Soussou people are a Mande-speaking ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District.École Normale de Rufisque in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, where she trained to become a teacher.

Career

Martin Cissé was one of Guinea's first female teachers and was assigned to the girls' school in Kankan in 1944. She became a member of the Union Madingue in 1946. She met future President

Ahmed Sékou Touré Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary ...

, then a PTT trade unionist, and joined the ''

Rassemblement Démocratique Africain The ''Rassemblement Démocratique Africain'', commonly known as the RDA and variously translated as African Democratic Assembly and African Democratic Rally, was a political party in French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa which was impo ...

'' in December 1947. She lived in Senegal with her husband in the 1950s and represented the Senegalese Democratic Union at the Congress of the International Federation of Women in France in October 1954. After Guinea's 1958 referendum, she returned to Guinea where her husband became chief of staff to the Minister of Health in the new Republic of Guinea. In 1959, Martin Cissé was a delegate to the congress of the West African Women's Union in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, which sought to maintain a

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

women's movement. She was Secretary General of the

Pan African Women's Organization The Pan-African Women's Organization (PAWO, , (OPF)) was founded as the African Women's Union in 1962. In 1974, the organization changed its name to the Pan-African Women's Organization. It was originally formed as an organization to fight again ...

from 1962 until 1972. She was elected to parliament in 1968 and joined the Central Committee after her husband's death in 1971. She was the first woman Vice-President of the

National Assembly of Guinea The unicameral ''Assemblée nationale'' or National Assembly is Guinea's legislative body. Since the country's birth in 1958, it has experienced political turmoil, and elections have been called at irregular intervals, and only since 1995 have th ...

. She was Secretary General of the African Women's Conference until 1974 and was a delegate to the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gen ...

in Geneva and to the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...

. In 1972, Martin Cissé was appointed as Guinea's

Permanent Representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Natio ...

. Guinea was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and she became the first woman to chair the council. She was also elected to chair the

United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 was passed on 6 November 1962 in response to the racist policies of apartheid established by the South African Government. Condemnation of apartheid The resolution deemed apartheid and the polic ...

. Martin Cissé returned to Guinea in 1976 at the request of

Touré, who appointed her as Minister of Social Affairs and a member of the

Democratic Party of Guinea Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. After Touré's death in 1984, she was arrested along with numbers of other political leaders and detained for 13 months before being released without charge. After the failed coup attempt of

Diarra Traoré Diarra Traoré (1935 – 8 July 1985) was a Guinean soldier and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guinea briefly in 1984 as a member of a junta led by Lansana Conté. In 1985, after Traoré attempted a coup d'état against President C ...

in July 1985, she left Guinea, moving first to Senegal and then to the United States. In 1988, she joined the International Committee of Solidarity for Women and Children in Southern Africa. In 2004, she joined as a member of the International Association of

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

Women. In 2006, U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

sent a message of congratulations on Martin Cissé's 80th birthday, acknowledging "her courage and her work". Martin Cissé's biography, ''Daughter of the

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Milo (magazine), ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine * ''Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * Milo (video game), ''Milo'' (video game) * Milo ( ...

'', was published in 2008. In 2014, South African President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

awarded Martin Cissé the Oliver Tambo Order to acknowledge her role as a leader and model in the struggle for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

in Africa. She has, however, been criticized for trivialising the crimes of Touré, under whose regime up to 50,000 people were killed.

Awards and honors

* Kuumba award for "significant contributions to African people", 1974 *

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

, 1975 * Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo, 2014, for her "excellent contribution in denouncing apartheid on the world stage of the United Nations and her stand against injustices that were happening in South Africa during apartheid."

Personal life and death

In 1946, Martin Cissé married Mohamed Camara, a police inspector whom she did not know. He died in a car accident later that year when she was three months pregnant. In 1948, she married Ansoumane Touré, one of the founders of the Guinea Democratic Party. He died in

Camp Boiro Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro (1960–1984) is a defunct Guinean concentration camp in the city of Conakry. During the regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré, thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp. It has been estimated t ...

prison in 1971 after being arrested in the aftermath of Operation Mar Verde. Martin Cissé had six children. She lived in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland, United States. Martin Cissé died on 21 February 2017.

Publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Cisse, Jeanne 1926 births 2017 deaths Women government ministers of Guinea People from Kankan Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo Permanent representatives of Guinea to the United Nations Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally politicians Guinean pan-Africanists Recipients of the Lenin Peace Prize Guinean women writers Guinean schoolteachers Guinean women diplomats Guinean women ambassadors Social affairs ministers of Guinea