Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny

{{Short description|First Lady of Ivory Coast}}

{{expand French|date=May 2024|topic=bio}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny

| image = The Houphouet-Boignys.jpg

| caption = Marie and her husband Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the White House attending a state dinner with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his wife First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962

| order = First Lady of Ivory Coast

| term_label = In role

| term_start = 3 November 1960

| term_end = 7 December 1993

| predecessor = Position created

| successor = Henriette Konan Bédié

| president = Félix Houphouët-Boigny

| party = Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally

| birth_name = Marie-Thérèse Brou

| birth_date = {{birth date and age| 17 September 1930}}

| birth_place = near Abidjan, Ivory Coast, French West Africa

| alma_mater =

| religion =

| spouse = {{marriage|Félix Houphouët-Boigny|1952|1993|end=died}}

| children =

| residence =

| relations =

| signature =

}}

Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny ({{née|Brou}}; born 17 September 1930){{cite web |url=https://rezoivoire.net/ivoire/patrimoine/2225/marie-therese-houphouet-boigny.html#.YKfmIPzPzIU |title=Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny |author=Rezo Ivoire |language=French |access-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301165231/https://rezoivoire.net/ivoire/patrimoine/2225/marie-therese-houphouet-boigny.html#.YD0b4_wYDIU |archive-date=1 March 2021}} is the former First Lady of Ivory Coast. Her husband was Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the first President of Ivory Coast from 1962 to 1993.

She was born in 1930 in a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, French West Africa.{{cite news|first=William|last=Barrow|title=Five Fabulous Females |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzoDAAAAMBAJ&q=Marie-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se+Houphou%C3%ABt-Boigny+born&pg=PA79 |work=Negro Digest|date=July 1963 |accessdate=17 March 2016}} She was one of her parents' six children. When Brou was 16 years old, she and nineteen other Ivorian girls were chosen to attend private school in France. While living in France, she met her husband, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, when she was 21 years old. Houphouët-Boigny was more than 25 years older than her. Brou and Houphouët-Boigny married in 1952, shortly after he divorced his first wife that same year.{{cite news |first=Joan |last=Tilouine |title=Marie-Thérèse à la poursuite des millions disparus d'Houphouët-Boigny |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/02/04/marie-therese-a-la-poursuite-des-millions-disparus-d-houphouet-boigny_4569278_3212.html |work=Le Monde |publisher= |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=14 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204123027/https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/02/04/marie-therese-a-la-poursuite-des-millions-disparus-d-houphouet-boigny_4569278_3212.html |archive-date=4 February 2015 |url-status=live}}

Houphouët-Boigny caught the eye of the media during 1962 visit to the Kennedy White House, and was dubbed "Africa's Jackie" or 'Black Jackie Kennedy" by the media.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896296-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930061754/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896296-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2007|title=Reigning Beauties|date=8 June 1962|magazine=Time |accessdate=6 August 2008}} In 1987, Houphouët-Boigny founded the N'Daya International Foundation, dedicated to improving the health, welfare, and education of children in Africa. As the Foundation's president, she led numerous projects in support of children.{{cite journal|title=Ebony update: Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny: First Lady of the Ivory Coast|journal=Ebony|date=June 1990|volume=XLV|issue=8|pages=56, 58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tMDAAAAMBAJ|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|issn=0012-9011}} In 1989, she helped create and produce Kimboo, an animated series aired on BET, to offer cartoon heroes to African children.

Houphouët-Boigny was the first lady of the Ivory Coast for 33 years, until her husband's death in 1993. Félix and Marie-Thérèse did not have any biological children, but adopted three children together.{{cite web|url=http://www.rezoivoire.net/cotedivoire/patrimoine/111/histoire-de-la-famille-boigny.html|title=Histoire de la famille Boigny|publisher=Réseau Ivoire|accessdate=4 August 2008}}