logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
8m 51s

Jean-Bédel Bokassa's coronation

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in a lavish ceremony on 4 December 1977.

He'd already been president for several years since taking power in a military coup - but he wanted more.

In 2018, Janet Ball spoke to his son Jean-Charles Bokassa.

(Photo: Jean-Bédel Bokassa at his coronation. Credit: Pierre Guillaud / AFP via Getty Images)

Up next
Today
Ni Una Menos women’s movement in Argentina
On 3 June 2015, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital, Buenos Aires, and in dozens of cities and towns demanding an end to violence against women. There were demonstrations in Chile and Uruguay in solidarity too. Argentina was reporting a female murder rate of one e ... Show More
9m 31s
Yesterday
Argentina’s national genetics bank created to identify stolen babies
In 1982, Argentine geneticist Victor Penchaszadeh was living in exile in New York when he received a call that would change the course of his career. Two founding members of the campaign group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, were asking for his help to find their kidnappe ... Show More
10m 41s
Jul 8
The mystery of Evita’s corpse
When Eva Peron, Argentina's most famous First Lady, died in 1952, her body was embalmed. Three years later, her widower, Juan Peron, was deposed in a coup. But military officers feared her corpse would become a rallying point of protest against the new government. So they stole i ... Show More
10m 34s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2020
Jean-Bédel Bokassa Pt. 1: Central Africa
Orphaned as a six-year-old in the late 1920s, Jean-Bédel Bokassa eventually found stability and prestige in the French Army. When he finally returned home to the newly established Central African Republic, he used his military career and family connections to secure power. Govern ... Show More
46m 12s
May 2023
The 'Stone of Destiny' and a self-proclaimed Emperor
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the Scottish students who removed the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey in London. Former King Simeon II of Bulgaria explains how he went from child King to ... Show More
51m 36s
Aug 2023
Presidential diamonds and Tupperware parties
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories from the BBC World Service. Journalist Claude Angeli discovered French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing received diamonds from a depraved African emperor, which contributed to him losing the presidential e ... Show More
50m 48s
Oct 2013
Thomas Sankara African Revolutionary
One of Africa's most famous radical leaders, Captain Thomas Sankara, was gunned down in a coup in Burkina Faso in October 1987. His overthrow was orchestrated by his old friend, Blaise Compaore. We hear from Thomas Sankara's brother, Paul.Photo: Captain Thomas Sankara in Zimbabwe ... Show More
9 m
Oct 2022
Coup leader parades through capital of Burkina Faso
The leader of Friday's coup in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, joined a parade after the former military leader, Lt. Colonel Paul Henri Damiba, agreed to step down. We hear the latest from the capital Ougadougou and look at the background to the r ... Show More
46m 23s
Dec 2018
Adopted By The Man Who Killed My Family
A child survivor of a Guatemalan army massacre during the country's brutal civil war, the women who cleared up post war Berlin, plus Armenia's 1988 earthquake, how Bokassa became Emperor of the Central African Republic, and Angela Merkel's rise to power. Photo: Ramiro as a child ... Show More
50m 21s
Nov 2023
383. Young Napoleon: The Shadow of the Guillotine (Part 2)
Within the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte stands out to his military superiors, first by defeating the British at Toulon, then by putting down a royalist mob in Paris when outnumbered four to one, with a “whiff of grapeshot”. Having finally shaken off the hu ... Show More
53m 52s
Nov 2021
Sudan's October Revolution
How in 1964 Sudanese civilian protesters first brought down a military regime, plus the hunt for former Serbian leader Radovan Karadžić later convicted of genocide and war crimes. Also in the programme, Russia's public outcry at the killing of human rights pioneer and leading fem ... Show More
50m 19s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami