Lucienne Patassé

Lucienne Lemotomo Patassé (1944 – July 29, 2000) was a Central African politician and member of the National Assembly, representing the Nana-Bakassa constituency in Ouham Prefecture for two terms from 1993 to 2000. She was also the first wife of Ange-Félix Patassé, who later became President of the Central African Republic after their separation.

Biography Patassé was born Lucienne Lemotomo in 1944.

Ange-Félix Patassé returned to the Central African Republic in 1992 and was elected president in 1993. Lucienne Patassé, his former wife, also embarked on her own political career in the early 1990s. Lucienne Patassé was elected to her first five-year term in National Assembly in 1993, representing Nana-Bakassa as a member of the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC). Patassé won re-electiom to a second term in 1998 and died in office in July 2000. According to the Agence France-Presse, Lucienne Patassé came to be seen as a "symbol of Central African women's contribution to safeguarding peace and democracy".

Patassé had been hospitalized in Bangui several times between 1993 and 2000. She had sought medical treatment in Paris during the spring of 2000, but returned to the Central African Republic as her health deteriorated. Lucienne Patassé died at the Chouaib Clinic in Bangui on July 29, 2000, at the age of 56. She was survived by her former husband, then-President Ange-Félix Patassé, and their seven children.

Lucienne Patassé's state funeral was held on Thursday, August 3, 2000, at the National Assembly. Thousands of people gathered along the Bangui's main avenues to watch the funeral procession. Dignitaries in attendance included President Ange-Félix Patassé, and numerous politicians, judges, the military officers, and members of the foreign diplomatic corp. Patassé was buried in her home village of Ngabawele, 400 km. north of Bangui, on Friday, August 4, 2000.

Patassé was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Central African Merit, the country's highest honor.

Honors 50px Grand Cross of the Order of Central African Merit (Posthumous, 2000).