Mathieu Kérékou, Beninese soldier and politician, President of Benin (b. 1933)
Mathieu Kérékou (French pronunciation: [ma.tjø ke.ʁe.ku]; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015) was a Beninese politician who served as President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 19 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist–Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of 1990. He was defeated in the 1991 presidential election but was returned to the presidency in the 1996 election and controversially re-elected in 2001.