Graca Simbine Machel is the only person in the history of the universe to have been the first wife of two democratically elected African leaders.
Graca Machel is an African stateswoman whose career and public life have been shaped by Mozambique's fight for independence and her work around the world to protect the rights of women and children. She was a freedom fighter in Mozambique's FRELIMO movement and the first Minister of Education for that country.
From 1999 to 2019, Machel was chancellor of the University of Cape Town. In 2009, Machel was chosen to be part of the Eminent Persons Group of the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2012, the University of London named her president of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Machel was named chancellor of the African Leadership University in 2016, a position she still has.
Samora Machel, the first president of an independent Mozambique, died in a plane crash in South Africa in 1986, leaving Graca Machel a widow. She met Machel when she returned to Mozambique in 1973 after going to school in Portugal.
She was sad about her husband's death for five years. During that time, she wore black and was mostly upset. She didn't let the death of her husband stop her from helping children because she was a very skilled woman.
On July 18, 1998, which was Mandela's 80th birthday, Graca and Mandela got married. This made her the only woman in history to be the First Lady of two different countries. She was still an important part of Mozambique's economy and government.
