REINES D'AFRIQUE

An original investigation, full of revelations and enhanced by a dazzling style, of the couples in power in Africa and, in particular, of the First Ladies of Africa, women of influence, power, and character.

Enriched with exclusive observations and eloquent anecdotes, this gallery of portraits also highlights the metamorphosis of the image of woman in a continent that counted a population of nearly two billion at the half-century. The reader encounters Congolese Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, the archetype of the old-style First Lady, and explores the tribe of the whites and the mixed race, the embodiment of the colonial legacy: Viviane Wade (Senegal), Sylvia Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Dominique Ouattara (Ivory Coast) and Chantal Biya (Cameroon). And then there are also the queens unknown to the general public, but whose paths follow the twists and turns of the short histories of their young States, such as Chantal Compaoré (Burkina Faso) or Marième Sall (Senegal). The author has also judiciously chosen to venture outside French-speaking territory, for it would be a shame to miss such singular individuals as Grace Mugabe (Zimbabwe) or Constancia Mangue de Obiang (Equitorial Guinea). Special correspondent of the international service of l'Express, Vincent Hugeux is among those most deeply familiar with present-day Africa. He depicts the continent, in all its spirit and torment, with an incisive and often caustic pen, both in his articles and in his essays, such as Les Sorciers Blancs (Fayard, 2007) or L'Afrique en face (Armand Collin, 2010).