Céline Ratsiraka

Céline Ratsiraka
First Lady of Madagascar
In role
9 February 1997 – 6 May 2002
PresidentDidier Ratsiraka
Preceded bySahondra Ratsirahonana
Succeeded byLalao Ravalomanana
In role
15 June 1975 – 27 March 1993
PresidentDidier Ratsiraka
Preceded byThérèse Ratsimandrava
Succeeded byThérèse Zafy
Personal details
BornCéline Marthe Velonjara
(1938-01-30)30 January 1938
French Madagascar
Died22 August 2025(2025-08-22) (aged 87)
Antananarivo, Madagascar
PartyAREMA
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1964; died 2021)​
Children4

Céline Marthe Ratsiraka (née Velonjara; 30 January 1938 – 22 August 2025) was a Malagasy politician, political figure and wife of former President Didier Ratsiraka. She was the longest tenured First Lady of Madagascar in the country's history, having held the position from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 until 2002.[1] She was an influential figure within the ruling Association for the Rebirth of Madagascar (AREMA) from the 1970s to the 1990s, especially within the party's left-wing.[2][3]

Biography

Ratsiraka was born on 30 January 1938.[1][4] She was the daughter of Pascal Velonjara, a parliamentarian during the French colonial period and founder of the Parti des déshérités de Madagascar (PADESM).[3]

In 1964, she married Didier Ratsiraka, at the time a young naval officer, at a Catholic ceremony presided over by Father Armand Gaëtan Razafindratandra.[1] The couple had four children: three daughters—Olga, Sophie, Annick—and one son, Xavier.[1]

Didier Ratsiraka took power in 1975 as President of the Supreme Revolutionary Council. During the rule of her husband from 1975 until 1993, Céline Ratsiraka became an influential figure in Malagasy politics and the regime's AREMA party as first lady and wife of the president.[2] Céline Ratsiraka and her sister, Hortense Raveloson Mahasampo, led the left-wing of the AREMA party, which acted as a counterbalance to figures within the party's right flank, such as Pascal Rakotomavo and Rakotovao Razakaboana.[2] Ratsiraka and her sister also organized and led the party's women's wing, known as AREMA Women.[3] Additionally, Céline Ratsiraka also headed AREMA's cooperative movement, including an investment bureau called the PROCOOP.[3]

Didier and Céline Ratsiraka went into exile in France in July 2002, ending a seven month political crisis following the disputed 2001 presidential election between Ratsiraka and the eventual winner, Marc Ravalomanana.[5][6]

In April 2013, the Ratsirakas returned to Madagascar after living in exile in France for eleven years so her husband could contest the 2013 presidential election.[7] Didier Ratsiraka was removed from the race by the electoral court in August 2013 for missing the six-month residency deadline.[8][9]

On 22 March 2021, both Céline Ratsiraka and her husband were admitted to Soavinandriana Military Hospital (CENHOSOA) in Antananarivo, for treatment of a "small flu", according to their relatives.[10][11] Didier Ratsiraka died at the hospital from cardiac arrest several days later on 28 March 2021, at the age of 84.[11] Céline Ratsiraka died on 22 August 2025, at the age of 87.[12]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Madagascar First ladies : De Justine à Voahangy, en passant par les deux Thérèse". Madagate.com. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Marcus, Richard R. (10 February 2016). "The Politics of Institutional Failure in Madagascar's Third Republic". Lexington Books (Google Books). ISBN 9780739181614. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Allen, Philip M.; Covell, Maureen (10 February 2016). "Historical Dictionary of Madagascar: Second Edition". Scarecrow Press. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. ^ Céline Ratsiraka : L’ex-Première dame s’est éteinte hier (in French)
  5. ^ "Ratsiraka moots Madagascar return". BBC News. 8 July 2002. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Madagascar profile - Timeline". BBC News. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  7. ^ Iloniaina, Alain (27 April 2013). "Former Madagascar president Ratsiraka to contest July election". Reuters News. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  8. ^ Ilioniania, Alain (22 August 2013). "Madagascar pushes back presidential election to October". Reuters. Retrieved 25 August 2025. The election was postponed to July when the electoral commission said it was unprepared to hold the poll. It was then pushed back to late August because the decision by Rajoelina and Ravalomanana's wife to stand led to donors suspending financing for the poll. At the weekend, the electoral court banned Rajoelina and Ravalomanana's wife, Lalao, from standing in the poll. The court also struck former President Didier Ratsiraka from the list of candidates.
  9. ^ Müller, Friederike (20 August 2013). "Overdue elections". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 August 2025. ... all presidential hopefuls must have lived in Madagascar for at at least 6 months before declaring their candidacy. This also applies to ex-President Didier Ratsiraka who lived in exile in France until recently.
  10. ^ "Madagascar: Atteint d'une "petite grippe"? Didier Ratsiraka hospitalisé au CENHOSOA". Midi Madagasikara. AllAfrica.com. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Madagascar: l'ancien président Didier Ratsiraka est mort". Jeune Afrique. 28 March 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Madagascar : Décès de l'ancienne Première Dame, Céline Ratsiraka à l'âge de 87 ans". Anadolu Ajansi. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East, Part 3". Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 1978. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9line_Ratsiraka