Omar Bongo
Politician
1935 – 2009
Who was Omar Bongo?
Alhaji Omar Bongo Ondimba, born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 41 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009.
Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as a young official under Gabon's first President Leon M'ba in the 1960s, before being elevated to Vice-President from 1966 to 1967, eventually succeeding M'ba to become Gabon's second President upon the latter's death in 1967.
Bongo headed the single-party regime of the Gabonese Democratic Party until 1990, when he was forced to introduce multi-party politics in Gabon in the face of great public pressure. He then survived intense opposition to his rule in the early 1990s, succeeding in consolidating power again mainly by bringing most of the major opposition leaders of the 1990s over to his side. He was re-elected in an extremely controversial 1993 presidential election, and again in the subsequent elections of 1998 and 2005, with his respective majorities increasing and the opposition becoming more subdued on each election. After Cuban President Fidel Castro stepped down in February 2008, Bongo became the world's longest-serving non-monarch ruler. He was one of the longest serving rulers in history.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Dec 30, 1935
Bongoville - Also known as
- Albert-Bernard Bongo
- Parents
- Spouses
- Edith Lucie Bongo
(1990 - 2009) - Louise Mouyabi Moukala
(1955 - 1959) - Patience Dabany
(1959/10/31 - 1986)
- Edith Lucie Bongo
- Children
- Religion
- Islam
- Sunni Islam
- Catholicism
- Nationality
- Gabon
- Profession
- Died
- Jun 8, 2009
Barcelona
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Omar Bongo." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/omar_bongo>.
Discuss this Omar Bongo biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In