Marie-Madeleine Yemo

Marie-Madeleine Yemo (d. 1971), better known as "Mama Yemo," was the mother of Mobutu Sese Seko. Unlike his father, whom he barely remembers, Mobutu's mother is very fondly remembered by the President.

Mama Yemo, formerly one of many wives of a Mobayi-Mbongo chief, had previously borne four children before she met (and later married) Mobutu's father. After his death in 1938, she was unable to support the family, and in 1940, she relocated, first to Mbandaka and then to Gbadolite. There, she came into conflict with her late husband's family regarding levirate rights of one of his brothers; by 1941, the family left Gbadolite, and Joseph-Désiré (as Mobutu was then known) resumed his schooling. After her son came to power in a 1965 coup, she continued to hold an influence over him; some say that some of the later excesses of the Mobutu cult appeared only her death, which removed her restraining maternal influence. She died in 1971 in Gemena, and a vast mausoleum was erected in her memory. Also in her honor, Mobutu named the country's largest hospital after her, and the hospital in question (renamed Mama Yemo Hospital) received half of the annual health budget.