Mialy Rajoelina
Mialy Rajoelina with her husband, Andry Rajoelina, in 2012
First Lady of Madagascar
Assumed role
16 December 2023
PresidentAndry Rajoelina
In role
19 January 2019 – 9 September 2023
PresidentAndry Rajoelina
Preceded byVoahangy Rajaonarimampianina
In role
17 March 2009 – 25 January 2014
PresidentAndry Rajoelina
Preceded byLalao Ravalomanana
Succeeded byVoahangy Rajaonarimampianina
Personal details
Born
Mialy Razakandisa
CitizenshipMalagasy, French
Political partyYoung Malagasies Determined
Spouse
​
(m. 2000)​
Children3
ResidenceIavoloha Palace
Alma materConservatoire national des arts et métiers

Mialy Razakandisa Rajoelina (born Mialy Razakandisa) is the first lady of Madagascar as wife of President Andry Rajoelina.[1] She previously served as first lady when her husband was president of the High Transitional Authority of Madagascar from 2009 to 2014 and when he was president of Madagascar from 2019 to 2023.

Early life, education, marriage

Mialy was born as the oldest of three girls[2] and has a master's degree in finance and accounting management at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris.[3] In 1994, Mialy met her future husband Andry Rajoelina in a high school in Antananarivo. The couple maintained a long-distance relationship for six years while Mialy completed her studies in Paris and Andry started his career as an entrepreneur. They reunited in Madagascar in 2000 and got married in the same year. Mialy has three children with Andry: two boys, Arena (born 2002) and Ilontsoa (born 2005), and a daughter born in 2007 that the couple named Andrialy, a contraction of their own names.[4]

Mialy's marriage with Andry allowed the later become head of Doma Pub, a company owned by Mialy's family in which Andry was to become leader on the local advertising hoarding market and kick start his career as an entrepreneur.[5] Most of her family went to France during the 2009 crisis due to safety concerns, including the couple's children.[2] Mialy has French citizenship which she obtained while studying in France.

As first lady

Mialy has made frequent public appearances, such as when she spoke at a TED Talks in Antananarivo in 2011.[6] Since her husband has become president Mialy has founded the FITIA association, which aims to collect donations and offer them the most vulnerable in Madagascar, especially women. Supporters of Mialy and her husband say that the FITIA show that the couple care for Madagascar and its people while opponents say that the organization is a propaganda campaign aimed at increasing their popularity.[7] Mialy has admitted to using her popularity to help her husband although she also adds that she sees nothing wrong with it and that people who support her usually support her husband as well.[2] She is the president and spokesperson of Fitia, a humanitarian association aiming at helping the poor and the sick. She was the youngest first lady Madagascar has ever had.[3]

Faith

Like her husband, Mialy is a Roman Catholic, in April 2013 she and Andry met with Pope Francis to become the first African leader and first lady to be received by the new pope at that time.[8]

References

  1. ↑ bio of Mialy Rajoelina Archived 2012-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, Andry Rajoelina official website (in French)
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview de Mialy Rajoelina : " Sarah Radavidra n'a jamais représenté une menace pour notre couple "" (in French). Actumada. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Mialy Rajoelina: First Lady of Madagascar". AG Magazine. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "PORTRAIT – MIALY RAJOELINA: Une femme de ressources". L'Express de l'Ile Maurice (La Sentinelle Limited) (in French). 5 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Andry Rajoelina, the billboard king turned president". African Intelligence. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "TEDxAntananarivo : Mialy Rajoelina sur la lutte contre le Cancer feminin" (in French). Gasy.net. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Mialy Rajoelina: une première dame qui sort de l'ordinaire (Mialy Rajoelina: a first lady out of the ordinary)" (in French). Gender Links for Equality and Justice. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Madagascar leader Andry Rajoelina meets Pope Francis". Africa Review. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
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