Born: 22 September 1936, Guinea-Bissau
Died: 4 June 2016
Country most active: Guinea-Bissau
Also known as: NA
Bissau-Guinean politician Carmen Pereira became the first woman in Africa to act as president of a country when she held the role of Acting President for three days in 1984. At the time, she was President of the National Assembly, and as such served as Acting President from 14 to 16 May 1984 as a new constitution was introduced.
Previously, Pereira – daughter of one of the few African lawyers in what was at the time a Portuguese colony – had been involved in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence that lasted from 1963 to 1974. In 1962, she had joined the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which her husband was a member of. Eventually, the PAIGC began mobilizing women more seriously, and she became a high-ranking leader along with other women like Teodora Inácia Gomes and Titina Silla. She went on to become a prominent political leader and served as a delegate to the Algeria-based Pan-African Women’s Organization.
After leaving her country and studying medicine in the Soviet Union, she returned to Guinea-Bissau and was elected to the People’s National Assembly, and later became a Member of the Council of State. She served as Minister of Health and Social Affairs from 1981 to 1983. As Minister of State for Social Affairs in 1990 and 1991, she was also Deputy Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau.
Her memoir, Os meus três amores (My Three Loves), was published posthumously in 2016.