| Jeanne-Irène Biya | |
| Office: | First Lady of Cameroon |
| Term Start: | 6 November 1982 |
| Term End: | 29 July 1992 |
| Predecessor: | Germaine Ahidjo |
| Successor: | Chantal Biya (1994) |
| President: | Paul Biya |
| Birth Name: | Jeanne-Irène Atyam Ndoumin |
| Birth Date: | 12 October 1935 |
| Birth Place: | Monengombo, Endom commune, Nyong-et-Mfoumou, French Cameroon |
| Death Place: | Yaoundé, Cameroon |
| Children: | Franck Biya |
Jeanne-Irène Biya (12 October 1935[1] - 29 July 1992) was the former First Lady of Cameroon and the first wife of Paul Biya, who has served as the President of Cameroon since 1982.[2]
Jeanne-Irène Biya died in office in Yaoundé at age 56. She was succeeded by Chantal Biya as first lady of Cameroon in 1994.[3]
Born Jeanne-Irène Atyam Ndoumin, she married Paul Biya on 2 September 1961, in Antony, Paris.[4] She studied at the midwifery school in Nantes and, after her return to Cameroon, worked as a qualified midwife in the Pavillon Baudelocque of the Yaoundé Central Hospital. She was socially committed, particularly to children.
Jeanne-Irène Biya died in Yaoundé at the age of 58, when her husband was on a trip in Dakar. Rumors arose in Cameroon that Jeanne-Irène Biya's death had occurred in an unnatural manner, and that he had been out of the country at the time for alibi reasons.[5] It is also speculated that the two nuns of Djoum, who had close relations with Jeanne-Irène Biya, were also assassinated.[6]
She is buried in Mvomeka'a, the birthplace of her husband.
It is speculated that Jeanne-Irène Biya adopted the illegitimate son that Paul Biya had with her sister[7] or niece when he was four years old.[8] He was named Franck Emmanuel Olivier Biya, and is considered to be the successor to his authoritarian father.