Jeanne-Irène Biya
First Lady of Cameroon from 1982 to 1992
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Jeanne-Irène Biya (12 October 1935[1] – 29 July 1992) was the First Lady of Cameroon from 1982 until her death in 1992, as the first wife of President Paul Biya.[2]
12 October 1935
Jeanne-Irène Biya | |
|---|---|
Biya in 1986 | |
| First Lady of Cameroon | |
| In role 6 November 1982 – 29 July 1992 | |
| President | Paul Biya |
| Preceded by | Germaine Ahidjo |
| Succeeded by | Chantal Biya (1994) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jeanne-Irène Atyam Ndoumin 12 October 1935 |
| Died | 29 July 1992 (aged 56) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Franck Biya |
Biography
Biya was born Jeanne-Irène Atyam Ndoumin on 12 October 1935 in Endom in the Ava-Ava family.[3][1] She was educated by her uncle Thomas Ndoumin, who was a cocoa farmer and exporter and the younger brother of Jean-Louis Ava-Ava who served as a deputy for decades.[3] She had a younger brother, Robert Nkili, who served as Minister of Labour and Social Security alongside Minister of Transport after gaining influence with Biya due to Jeanne's marriage.[4]
She married Paul Biya on 2 September 1961, in Antony, Paris.[5] She studied at the Nantes School of Midwives in France and, after her return to Cameroon, worked as a qualified midwife in the Pavillon Baudelocque of the Yaoundé Central Hospital.[3] She was socially committed, particularly to children.[3]
Jeanne-Irène Biya died in Yaoundé at the age of 58, when her husband was on a trip in Dakar. Rumors arose in Cameroon that Jeanne-Irène Biya's death had occurred in an unnatural manner, and that he had been out of the country at the time for alibi reasons.[6][7][8] It is also speculated that the two nuns of Djoum, who had close relations with Jeanne-Irène Biya, were also assassinated.[9] Paul Biya remarried to Chantal Biya in 1994.[8]
She is buried in Mvomeka'a, the birthplace of her husband.[10]
Personal life
It is speculated that Jeanne-Irène Biya adopted the illegitimate son that Paul Biya had with her sister[11] or niece when he was four years old.[7] He was named Franck Emmanuel Olivier Biya, and is considered to be the successor to his authoritarian father.