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Graça Machel

17 October 1945 – present

Graça Machel (born 1945) is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian who served as Mozambique's first Minister of Education and Culture from 1975 to 1989 and later became an international advocate for the rights of women and children. She is the widow of two heads of state: Mozambican president Samora Machel, who died in 1986, and South African president Nelson Mandela, whom she married in 1998.

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Life events

Born in Incadine, Gaza Province, Mozambique
17 October 1945

Born in a rural village in Gaza Province in what was then Portuguese Mozambique, the youngest of six children.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied at the University of Lisbon
c. 1968

Won a scholarship to study Germanic and Romance languages at the University of Lisbon, where she became involved in the Mozambican independence movement.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Joined FRELIMO
1973

Returned to Africa and joined the Mozambique Liberation Front, receiving military training in Tanzania.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Samora Machel, President of Mozambique
1975

Married Samora Machel, the first president of independent Mozambique, shortly after independence.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relationship ✓
Served as Minister of Education and Culture of Mozambique
1975 – 1989

As the country's first education minister she oversaw a large expansion of primary school enrolment.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Widowed when Samora Machel died in a plane crash
19 October 1986

Samora Machel was killed when his presidential aircraft crashed in the Lebombo Mountains near the South African border.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Presented the UN report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children
1996

Served as the UN Secretary-General's expert on the impact of armed conflict on children and delivered the report to the General Assembly.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Married Nelson Mandela
18 July 1998

Married South African president Nelson Mandela on his 80th birthday in Johannesburg.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Served as Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
1999 – 2019

Held the ceremonial post of chancellor at the University of Cape Town for two decades.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Widowed when Nelson Mandela died
5 December 2013

Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓