View source for Edith Lucie Bongo

{{Short description|First Lady of Gabon (1964–2009)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Édith Lucie Bongo Ondimba
|image = Edith Bongo.jpg
|imagesize = 220px
|birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1964|3|10}}
|birth_place = [[Brazzaville]], [[Republic of the Congo]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2009|3|14|1964|3|10}}
|death_place = [[Rabat, Morocco]]
|occupation = Physician
|order=[[First Lady of Gabon]]
|president =[[Omar Bongo]]
|term_label=In role
|term_start=August 4, 1989
|term_end=March 14, 2009
|party      = [[Gabonese Democratic Party|Democratic]]
|predecessor = [[Patience Dabany]] <small>(as [[Omar Bongo]]'s first wife)</small> (1987)
|successor = [[Sylvia Bongo Ondimba|Sylvia Ajma Valentin]]
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Omar Bongo]]|1989-08-04}}
|children = 2
|alma_mater =
}}
'''Édith Lucie Bongo Ondimba''' (March 10, 1964 – March 14, 2009) was the [[First Lady of Gabon]] as the wife of President [[Omar Bongo]] from 1989 to 2009.
==Biography==
Édith Lucie Bongo Ondimba was born March 10, 1964. Her father was [[Denis Sassou Nguesso]], who later served as the President of the [[Republic of the Congo]] (1979&ndash;1992 and 1997 to date). Her marriage to President Bongo on August 4, 1989, was viewed politically as an example of cooperation between the two countries, according to ''[[Reuters]]''.<ref name=reuters>{{cite news|title=Wife of Gabon's President Bongo dies |newspaper=[[Reuters]]|date=15 March 2009|accessdate=18 March 2009 |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52E01R20090315|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322173846/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52E01R20090315|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2009}}</ref>
She was a medical doctor by education, a pediatrician, with [[HIV/AIDS]] as one of her main focuses. She helped create a forum for African first ladies to fight AIDS and founded associations for vulnerable children and people with disabilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gabonmagazine.com/images/G2-ENGLISH/G2-EdithBongo.pdf|publisher=Gabon Magazine|title=Edith Bongo pictures|format=PDF|accessdate=22 November 2016}}</ref>
==Later life and death==
In 2009, she was hospitalized in [[Rabat, Morocco]]. On March 14, 2009, she died at the hospital, four days after her 45th birthday. The statement announcing her death specified neither the cause of death nor the nature of her illness. She had not appeared in public for around three years preceding her death.<ref name=reuters/> After the state funeral in [[Libreville, Gabon]], Édith Bongo's remains were taken to Edu, her father's home village in northern Congo for a traditional [[Mbochi people|Mbochi]] tribal burial in the family cemetery there on March 20, 2009. The burial, nationally televised in Gabon and Congo, was attended by Presidents Bongo, Sassou Nguesso, and by the presidents of Benin, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Togo.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gabonese first lady buried in Congo|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200903231207.html|accessdate=22 November 2016|work=AllAfrica|date=22 March 2009}}</ref>
Following her death, it was announced on Gabonese television on 6 May 2009 that Omar Bongo was "temporarily suspending his activities" as President in order to "regain strength and rest". The announcement stressed that Bongo had been deeply affected by the illness and death of his wife.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCsmQqsc6g9ayZmdl63pTe9HMuKw|title=Gabon's Bongo temporarily stands down|newspaper=Associated Press|date=6 May 2009|accessdate=22 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311075427/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCsmQqsc6g9ayZmdl63pTe9HMuKw|archive-date=11 March 2011}}</ref> President Bongo died a month later on 8 June 2009, nearly three months after Edith's death, at a clinic in [[Barcelona]], Spain.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|title=Gabon's leader is confirmed dead|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8090056.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2009-06-08|accessdate=2009-06-08}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongo, Edith}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Gabonese women physicians]]
[[Category:First ladies and gentlemen of Gabon]]
[[Category:Gabonese people of Republic of the Congo descent]]
[[Category:Republic of the Congo women physicians]]
[[Category:Children of presidents]]
[[Category:Gabonese pediatricians]]
[[Category:21st-century Gabonese people]]
[[Category:21st-century Gabonese women]]
[[Category:Bongo family]]