Germaine Ahidjo

Germaine Habiba Ahidjo (11 February 1932[1] – 20 April 2021) was a Cameroonian politician and nurse. She was the wife of the first president of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo. She was thus the First Lady of Cameroon from 1960 until 1982.[2]

Germaine Ahidjo
Germaine Ahidjo in July 1979
First Lady of Cameroon
In office
5 May 1960 – 6 November 1982
PresidentAhmadou Ahidjo
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byJeanne-Irène Biya
Personal details
Born(1932-02-11)11 February 1932
Mokolo, French Cameroon
Died20 April 2021(2021-04-20) (aged 89)
Dakar, Senegal
Political partyCameroonian National Union
Spouse(s)Touffic Boubakari (divorced)
Ahmadou Ahidjo (1956–1989; his death)
Children4

Biography

Germaine Ahidjo was born in 1932 in Mokolo in the present-day Far North Region of Cameroon.[3] Her mother was Fulani and her father was Corsican.[3]

In 1942, she obtained her certificate of studies in Yaoundé. She later joined the Girls College of Douala, today New-Bell High School.

In 1947, she was awarded a scholarship to France, where she graduated as a state nurse in 1952 and specialized in tropical diseases.[4][5]

She became friend with Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1955 and they were married on 17 August 1956.[6] They had three daughters: Babette, Aissatou and Aminatou. She also had a son, Daniel Toufick, born before her marriage with Ahidjo. Mohamadou Badjika Ahidjo, now a deputy and a visiting ambassador, is the son of Ahidjo with his first wife, Ada Garoua. After the resignation of her husband in 1982 and her death sentence in absentia as a result of her supposed involvement in the failed coup of 1984, they settled in Dakar, Senegal, where she still lived. Her husband died on 30 November 1989. She campaigned for his official rehabilitation, including the repatriation of his ashes to Cameroon.

She died on 19 April 2021, at age 89 in Dakar, Senegal, where she had been suffering from protracted illness.[7]

Honours

Foreign honours

References
  1. "Would the date of Youth Day Celebrations be a tribute to the birthday of former First Lady Germaine Ahidjo ?".
  2. Rebecca Neh Mbuh; Mark W. Delancey; Mark Dike DeLancey (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 34. ISBN 9781538119686. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. Foute, Franck (20 April 2021). "Cameroun: décès de Germaine Ahidjo, veuve de l'ancien président Ahmadou Ahidjo". Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. Madeleine, Tchuinte (2014). Grandes figures féminines du Cameroun. Yaounde: Minresi. pp. 21–22.
  5. "Wikiwix's cache". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  6. "Germaine Habiba Ahidjo". data.bnf.fr. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. "Cameroon: Wife of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo passes away". 20 April 2021.
  8. Boletín Oficial del Estado
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