| Mma-Besi | |
| mohumagadi (queen or queen mother) of the BaNgwato of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, | |
| Birth Name: | Mma-Besi |
| Birth Date: | 1846 |
Mma-Besi or Mabisa (1846 – 1889) was a mohumagadi (queen or queen mother) of the BaNgwato of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana, and the first wife of king Khama III.[1] [2] She was also known as Elisabeta Gobitsamang Khama.
She was baptized as Elisabeta in 1862, taking the name in honour of Elizabeth Moffat, daughter of Robert Moffat.[2] [3] She was married that same year in what was the first Christian marriage held in Shoshong.[2] Her first child, a daughter, was called Besi, and so she became Mma-Besi due to the tradition of taking the name "mother of" one's firstborn.[2] Her one son who lived, Sekgoma, became king when Khama III died in 1923 but died himself soon after.[2] She herself died at the age of 44, probably of malaria due to Khama III moving the capital to the Tswapong Hills.