Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Politician
1921 – 1996
Who was Jean-Bédel Bokassa?
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, also known as Bokassa I of Central Africa and Salah Eddine Ahmed Bokassa, was a military officer and the head of state of the Central African Republic and its successor state, the Central African Empire, from his coup d'état on 1 January 1966 until 20 September 1979. Of this period, he served almost eleven years as president, and for almost three years he reigned as self-proclaimed emperor. Following his overthrow, the Central African Republic was restored. Bokassa's imperial title did not achieve international diplomatic recognition.
Born in French Equatorial Africa, the son of a village chief, Jean-Bédel Bokassa was orphaned at age 12. Educated in mission schools, he joined the French colonial army in 1939 as a private. He distinguished himself in the war in Indochina, winning medals and rising to the rank of captain. When French Equatorial Africa gained its independence as the Central African Republic in 1960, the new president David Dacko, who was his distant cousin, invited Bokassa to head the armed forces. In 1966, Bokassa used his position to oust Dacko and declared himself president. He then began a reign of terror, taking all important government posts for himself. He personally supervised judicial beatings and introduced a rule that thieves would have an ear cut off for the first two offenses and a hand for the third. In 1977, in emulation of his hero Napoleon, he crowned himself emperor of the Central African Empire in a ceremony costing $20 million, practically bankrupting the country. His diamond-encrusted crown alone cost $5 million. In 1979 he had hundreds of schoolchildren arrested for refusing to wear uniforms made in a factory he owned, and was reported to have personally supervised the massacre of 100 of the schoolchildren by his Imperial Guard.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Feb 22, 1921
Bangui - Also known as
- Jean-Bedel Bokassa
- Jean Bedel Bokassa Jr
- Spouses
- Nguyen Thi Hué
- Catherine Denguiadé
(1964/06/20 - ) - Zara Victorine
- Alda Adriano Geday
(1974/05/04 - ) - Uta
- Augustine Assemat
- Gabriella Drimbo
(1975/04 - ) - Chantal Belleka
- Marie-Joëlle Aziza-Eboulia
(1970/02/18 - ) - Astrid Elisabeth Van Erpe
(1957 - 1961)
- Children
- Religion
- Islam
- Catholicism
- Profession
- Education
- Ecole Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc
- Father Compte's school
( - 1939) - Ecole Saint-Louis
- Died
- Nov 3, 1996
Bangui
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Jean-Bédel Bokassa." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/jean-bedel_bokassa>.
Discuss this Jean-Bédel Bokassa 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