Bokassa, Jean-Bédel

or Bokassa I

(born Feb. 22, 1921, Bobangui [Central African Republic]—died Nov. 3, 1996, Bangui, Central African Republic) President of the Central African Republic (1966–77) and self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1977–79). Son of a village chief, Bokassa joined the French army in 1939 and later received the Croix de Guerre for his service in Indochina. In 1961 he returned to head the army of the newly independent Central African Republic; five years later he overthrew the president, his cousin David Dacko. In 1977 he had himself crowned emperor. When he was found to have participated in the massacre of 100 schoolchildren and was accused of cannibalism, French paratroops removed him in a coup and reestablished the republic. Bokassa settled in Côte d'Ivoire. He was sentenced to death in absentia in 1980, but his death sentence was later commuted.

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