South African President Nelson Mandela stands with Graca Machel, wife of the late former President of Mozambique Samora Machel, in this undated photo. According to South African news reports Thursday, July 16, 1998, the couple are expected to marry on Saturday July 18, 1998, his 80th birthday, at a private ceremony at his home in Johannesburg. (AP Photo/Benny Gool)
Graça Machel
Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of both South African president Nelson Mandela and of Mozambican president Samora Machel. She is an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights and in 1997 was made an honorary British dame for her humanitarian work.
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Machel attended Methodist mission schools before gaining a scholarship to the University of Lisbon in Portugal, where she studied German and first became involved in independence issues. She returned to Portuguese East Africa in 1973, joining the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) and working as a schoolteacher.
