Born in French Equatorial Africa, the son of a village chief,
Jean Bedel Bokassa was orphaned at the age of 12. Educated in
mission schools, he joined the French colonial army in 1939 as a
private. He distinguished himself in the war in Indochina,
winning medals and rising to the rank of captain.
When French Equatorial Africa gained its independence as the
Central African Republic in 1960, the new president David Dacko
invited Bokassa to head the armed forces. In 1966, Bokassa used
his position to oust Dacko and declared himself president.
He began a reign of terror, taking all important government
posts to himself. He personally supervised judicial beatings and
introduced his own version of the 'three-strikes-and-you're-out
rule' - thieves would have an ear cut off for the first two
offences and a hand for the third. In 1977, in emulation of his
hero Napoleon, he crowned himself emperor of the Central African
Empire in a ceremony costing $200 million, practically
bankrupting the country. His diamond-encrusted crown alone cost
$5 million.
Source and more info: Jea
n Bedel Bokassa.
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