Behind every great man is a great woman, as they say. But who stands behind the world’s dictators?In good times and in bad, the ladies of the Dictators’ Wives Club sure put up with a lot: corruption, political uprisings, and often other wives.
Some, like Rwandan first lady Jeannette Kagame, use their position to advocate for important charitable causes in their nations.Others, like the president of Syria’s wife, Asma al-Assad, are pros at looking the other way and smiling for official Instagram photos.For this list, we defined a dictator as a near-absolute ruler known for human-rights abuses, restrictions on freedom of the press, and oppression of opposition.
Ana Paula dos Santos, wife of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos
Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
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Chantal Biya, wife of Cameroonian President Paul Biya
Hinda Déby, wife of Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno
Constancia Mangue, wife of Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
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Zeinab Suma, wife of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh
Sara Nazarbayeva, wife of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Ri Sol Ju, wife of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un
Jeannette Kagame, wife of Rwandan President Paul Kagame
The 30+ wives of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Inkhosikati LaMbikiza, wife of Swazi King Mswati III
Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Tatyana Karimova, wife of Uzbek President Islam Karimov