Jean B%C3%A9del Bokassa

JeanBdel Bokassa , also known as Bokassa I of Central Africa and Salah Eddine Ahmed Bokassa, was a military officer and the head of state of the Central African Republic and its successor state, the Central African Empire, from his coup dtat onJanuary 1966 until overthrown in a subsequent coup onSeptember 1979. Of this period, he served almost eleven years as president , and for almost three years he reigned as selfproclaimed Emperor of Central Africa, though he was a military dictator. His imperial regime lasted fromDecember 1976 toSeptember 1979. Following his overthrow, the Central African Republic was restored under his predecessor, David Dacko. Bokassas imperial title did not achieve international diplomatic recognition.

Bokassa was born onFebruary 1921 as one ofchildren to Mindogon Bokassa, a village chief, and his wife Marie Yokowo in Bobangui, a large MBaka village in the Lobaye basin located at the edge of the equatorial forest, then a part of colonial French Equatorial Africa, some 80 kilometres southwest of Bangui. Mgboundoulou was forced to organise the rosters of his village people to work for the French Forestire company. After hearing about the efforts of a prophet named Karnu to resist French rule and forced labour, Mgboundoulou decided that he would no longer follow French orders. He released some of his fellow villagers who were being held hostage by the Forestire. The company considered this to be a rebellious act, so they detained Mgboundoulou, and took him away bound in chains to Mbaki. OnNovember 1927, he was beaten to death in the town square just outside the prefecture office. A week later, Bokassas mother, unable to bear the grief of losing her husband, committed suicid

Source: Wikipedia