Graca Machel: The only woman in history to be first lady of 2 countries
Graca Machel: The only woman in history to be first lady of 2 countries

Graca Machel, a 74-year-old Mozambican politician and humanitarian, is the only woman in the world that became first lady of two different countries.

Her first husband was the former president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, whom she married in 1975.

Graca and Samora Machel. Photo credit: Face 2 Face Africa Source: UGC | This African is the only woman in the world to be First Lady of two different countries
Graca and Samora Machel. Photo credit: Face 2 Face Africa Source: UGC

Graca became a widow in 1986 when Samora died in a mysterious plane crash just inside the South African border.

She would later marry former South African president Nelson Mandela and spendt 15 years together as couple before the anti-apartheid hero died in 2013.

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Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel. Photo credit: CNN Source: UGC | This African is the only woman in the world to be First Lady of two different countries
Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel. Photo credit: CNN Source: UGC

Following the release of Mandela from prison in 1990, Graca was usually seen around the freedom fighter, Face 2 Face Africa reports.

The wedding between Graca and Mandela took place on Mandela’s 80th birthday, July 18, 1998. This made her the only woman in the world to be the first lady of two different countries.

About her marriage to two different leaders, Graca once said: “It’s not two leaders who fell in love with me, but two real people. I feel privileged that I have shared my life with two such exceptional men.”