Rosine Vieyra Soglo
Rosine Vieyra Soglo | |
---|---|
Member of the National Assembly of Benin | |
In office 1999[1] – February 2019[1] | |
Member of the Pan-African Parliament | |
In office 2004–2009 | |
First Lady of Benin | |
In office 4 April 1991 – 4 April 1996 | |
President | Nicéphore Soglo |
Preceded by | Marguerite Kérékou |
Succeeded by | Marguerite Kérékou |
Personal details | |
Born | Rose-Marie Honorine Vieyra 7 March 1933 Ouidah, French Dahomey |
Died | 25 July 2021 Cotonou, Benin | (aged 88)
Political party | Benin Rebirth Party |
Spouse | |
Children | Léhady Soglo Ganiou Soglo |
Rosine Honorine Vieyra Soglo (born Rose-Marie Honorine Vieyra; 7 March 1933 – 25 July 2021) was a Beninese politician. Soglo served as First Lady of Benin from 1991 to 1996 during the presidency of her husband, Nicéphore Soglo.[2][1][3] She is considered the first First Lady of the democratic era following Benin's transition to a multi-party democracy.[4]
In 1992, Soglo founded the
Early life
Soglo, whose real name was Rose-Marie Honorine Vieyra,
Vieyra met Nicéphore Soglo in France in 1947, while both were students and teenagers aged 16 and 14 respectively.[1] The couple married on 2 July 1958, and had two sons.[1][11] Their eldest son, Léhady Soglo (born 1960), was a former national deputy and Mayor of Cotonou from 14 August 2015, until his dismissal on 2 August 2017 for alleged corruption.[1] He went into exile in France in 2017 and was sentenced in absentia to ten years in prison by the Criet court.[3] Their second son, Ganiou Soglo (born 1961), a former government minister and presidential candidate, was shot and wounded in an ambush on 5 February 2021.[1][13]
Career
While Nicéphore Soglo studied at the
Soglo became First Lady of Benin in August 1991 upon Nicéphore Soglo's election as President during the country's democratic transition.[1] In 1992, First Lady Soglo created the Benin Rebirth Party (RB), becoming the first Beninese woman to establish a political party.[1][14] Rosine Vieyra Soglo founded the Benin Rebirth Party to garner political support for her husband, who lacked widespread support from the country's political class.[1] The following year, the political party La Renouveau issued a signed statement by Soglo to the media encouraging supporters of her husband to join the Benin Rebirth Party.[12]
Rosine Vieyra Soglo's new party won 20 of the 83 seats in the National Assembly in the 1995 Beninese parliamentary election.[3] However, President Nicéphore Soglo, who was seeking re-election, was defeated by former President Mathieu Kérékou in the 1996 Beninese presidential election.[3]
In 1999, Rosine Vieyra Soglo was elected to the
In 2007, Soglo joined the
Leading up to the April 2011 parliamentary election, Soglo was the head of the ADD.[16] However, during the 2011 elections, she joined the Union Makes the Nation coalition and promised to improve the quality of Benin's government and habitability.[17]
In the
In her final address to the National Assembly on 18 February 2019, Rosine Soglo announced her resignation and retirement from office due to the loss of her
Outside of politics, Rosine Vieyra Soglo established the Vidolé Association (l’association Vidolé), which provides support to women and families who have
Later life
In 2019, Célestine Zanou, a politician and former presidential candidate, praised Soglo as "our national mother" and called her an "icon of Beninese politics."[1]
In late July 2021, Rosine Soglo was hospitalized for three days at the Mahouena Clinic in Cotonou for treatment of a cardiovascular illness.[1][3] Her condition initially improved with treatment, but her health rapidly deteriorated on the morning of Saturday, 24 July.[3] She requested to return to her home at la Haie Vive in Cotonou, where she died at approximately 4 p.m. on 25 July 2021 at the age of 88.[1][3][11]
She was survived by her husband, former President Nicéphore Soglo, who was abroad in Paris for medical treatment at the time of her death, and their two sons.[1][11] In a statement, Soglo paid tribute to his late wife saying, "It is this woman who has allowed me to be so strong."[1] Her eldest son, former Cotonou mayor Léhady Soglo, announced that he would return from exile in France for the first time since 2017 to attend his mother's funeral.[1] She was also survived by her second son, Ganiou Soglo, who survived a shooting in February 2021.[3][13] Soglo's funeral was organised by former minister and women's rights activist Vicentia Boco.[21]
Tributes poured in from figures across Beninese politics, including President Patrice Talon, a frequent political nemesis, who called her "a brave and exceptional woman" in a Facebook post.[1][8] Others paying tribute to Soglo included former President Thomas Boni Yayi and the President of the Beninese Parliament, Louis Vlavonou, who called her, "a woman of exception and conviction whose participation in six successive legislatures inevitably leaves an indelible imprint on the parliamentary institution and the country as a whole."[1] Opposition leader Paul Hounkpè also stated, "the death of Rosine Soglo, an emblematic figure in Benin's politics since the historic national conference of February 1990, is a great loss for our country and our democracy...She is an intrepid fighter for peace, freedom and democracy in Benin."[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Vidjingninou, Fiacre (26 July 2021). "Bénin – Décès de Rosine Soglo : hommages unanimes de la classe politique". Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Rosine Soglo's removal from party makes headlines". PanaPress. 7 September 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Millecamps, Matthieu (25 July 2021). "Bénin: décès de Rosine Soglo, ex-première dame devenue femme politique de premier plan". Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ Da Silva, Christopher (25 July 2021). "Rôle et place des Premières dames au Bénin: Quelle sera la marque de Claudine Talon?". La vraie info. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ Pan-African Parliament members as of 15 March 2004 Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pan-African Parliament members, as of 2006 Archived 24 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Biographie politique : Rosine Soglo une dame de fer au Parlement du Benin". Quotidien Fraternité. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ a b Ouitona, Serge (26 July 2021). "Rôle et place des Premières dames au Bénin: Quelle sera la marque de Claudine Talon?". Le Nouvelle Afrik. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ISBN 9782811138936. Retrieved 26 July 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Rosine Vieyra Soglo, l'ex-première dame s'en est allée". Artistes.bf. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Houngbadji, Cochimau S. (25 July 2021). "Bénin: l'ex-première dame, Rosine Soglo est décédée (proche)". Benin Web TV. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ . Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ a b Millecamps, Matthieu (9 February 2021). "Attaque contre Ganiou Soglo au Bénin : une enquête et des polémiques". Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4742-9287-0. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ "Benin Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) elections in 2007". ipu.org. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ "Benin Battle of the bankers" (PDF). Africa Confidential. 52 (2): 11. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ "Benin Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)". ipu.org. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- ^ Yao Hervé Kingbêwé, "Législatives : liste complète des 83 députés selon la CENA", La Nouvelle Tribune, 2 May 2015 (in French).
- ^ Yao Hervé Kingbêwé, "Assemblée nationale : la plénière suspendue pour deux heures", La Nouvelle Tribune, 19 May 2015 (in French). [dead link]
- ^ Djogbénou, Edouard (19 February 2019). ""La vieille s'en va et vous dit bye bye", Rosine Soglo dit ses derniers mots en tant que députée". Benin Web TV. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ "Rosine Soglo : Vicentia Boco, présidente du comité d'organisation de ses funérailles". La Nouvelle Tribune (in French). 23 August 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2023.