Statecraft & Independence
Peerless
Rosalie Gicanda
1928 – 1994
The last queen of Rwanda, murdered in the first days of the genocide
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Rwanda Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
Queen consort at fourteen, widowed at thirty-one, expelled from the palace and left to live quietly in Butare for thirty years. On 20 April 1994 soldiers took her from her house and shot her behind the national museum, because of who she was.
Rosalie Gicanda was born in 1928 and married King Mutara III Rudahigwa at about fourteen, serving as queen consort from January 1942 until his death in mysterious circumstances in 1959. The monarchy survived two more years before the revolution of 1961, and in 1962 she was expelled from the palace and went to live in a modest house in Butare with her mother.
She stayed there quietly for three decades and was deeply revered. On 20 April 1994, aged sixty-six, soldiers acting on the orders of Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana took her from her home along with several others, led them behind the National Museum, and shot them — she was among the very first killed as the massacres spread through Butare, precisely because of what she represented. Nizeyimana was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2012 and sentenced to life.
She stayed there quietly for three decades and was deeply revered. On 20 April 1994, aged sixty-six, soldiers acting on the orders of Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana took her from her home along with several others, led them behind the National Museum, and shot them — she was among the very first killed as the massacres spread through Butare, precisely because of what she represented. Nizeyimana was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2012 and sentenced to life.
- Wikipedia — Rosalie Gicanda
- Face2Face Africa — The tragic and little-known story of the last queen of Rwanda, Rosalie Gicanda
- IGIHE — Remembering Rwanda's last queen Rosalie Gicanda
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