Maria Nyerere

Maria Nyerere
Maria (r) with Evelyn Macleod
1st First Lady of Tanzania
In role
29 October 1964 – 5 November 1985
Preceded byRole established
Succeeded bySiti Mwinyi
First Lady of Tanganyika
In role
9 December 1962 – 25 April 1964
Personal details
Born
Maria Waningu Gabriel Magige

(1930-12-31) 31 December 1930 (age 93)
Tanganyika
NationalityTanzanian
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1953; died 1999)​
[1]
Children
7
ProfessionTeacher

Maria Nyerere (born Maria Waningu Gabriel Magige; 31 December 1930[2][3][4]) served as the inaugural First Lady of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985.[5] She was the seventh of nine children of Mr. Gabriel Magige, of Baraki, Tareme[6] and his wife Hannah Nyashiboha.[3]

Nyerere was educated at the White Sisters' School at Nyegina and Ukerewe School. She was a boarding scholar at Sumve Teacher Training College in Mwanza, where she attained a teaching certificate and She began her work by teaching at Nyegina Primary School at Musoma.[7]

In 1953 she married Julius Nyerere, who was then also a teacher. He became an activist and politician, co-founder and president of Tanzania.

She currently serves as one of ten members of the council of elders of the Alliance for Tanzania Youth Economic Empowerment (Atyee), which also includes former Union President Ali Hassan Mwinyi and former Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume.[8] She is commonly known as Mama Maria in the Tanzanian media.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Obituary: Julius Nyerere". The Daily Telegraph. London. 15 October 1999. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com.
  3. ^ a b Nyerere: The Early Years, Thomas Molony, 2014, pg 89
  4. ^ Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, , Godfrey Mwakikagile, New Africa Press, 2007, pg 403
  5. ^ "Profile: Nyerere". juliusnyerere.info. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. ^ Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, Godfrey Mwakikagile, New Africa Press, 2007, pg 628
  7. ^ Nyerere: The Early Years, Thomas Molony, 2014, pg 90
  8. ^ "Mama Maria: Keeping Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's candle alight - Full Woman". Archived from the original on 2015-07-21.
  9. ^ "Mama Maria: Keeping Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's candle alight". Daily Monitor. 7 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Mama Maria Nyerere emerges to refute death rumours - National - thecitizen.co.tz". Archived from the original on 2015-03-11.