Sophie Kanza

Sophie Lihau-Kanza (8 February 1940–1999) was the first Congolese woman to receive a secondary education, the first to graduate from a university, and the first to hold a government office in the Republic of the Congo.

Biography

Sophie Kanza was born on 8 February 1940 in Léopoldville, Belgian Congo.[1] Her father was Daniel Kanza, a prominent Congolese who would eventually help found the Alliance des Bakongo. At the time of Congolese independence in 1960, she was the only woman in the country who had been enrolled in secondary education, graduating from Lycée du Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart High School) in June 1961.[2] In 1964 she became the first Congolese woman to graduate from a university[3] when she received her diploma from the University of Geneva with a degree in sociology, working in the same department for the university until 1966.[1] That year she was appointed by Congolese dictator Joseph Mobutu to be the Minister of Social Affairs,[4] becoming the first woman in the country to hold government office.[5] She later served as a representative to the United Nations.[3]

Kanza was married to Marcel Lihau, but he fled political persecution in the Congo and they spent most of their lives separated.[3] She suffered cardiac arrest and died in 1999.[1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Auzias & Labourdette 2015, p. 139
  2. ↑ Coquery-Vidrovitch 1997, p. 143
  3. 1 2 3 Fox 2011, p. 153
  4. ↑ Freedman 2016, p. 104
  5. ↑ LaFontaine 1986, p. 222

References

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