# Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar

> Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar (1928-2001): Djiboutian independence and women's rights activist, first First Lady of Djibouti.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/aicha-bogoreh-darrar/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was she?

Aïcha Bogoreh Darrar was a Djiboutian independence and women's rights activist and the first First Lady of Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She was born in 1928 in Dikhil, then part of [French Somaliland](/en/relations/france/), into a family of railway workers (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Independence work

She married [Hassan Gouled Aptidon](/en/people/hassan-gouled-aptidon/), a nurse who became Djibouti's first president ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She organised women to vote for independence and for his political career, and became First Lady when Djibouti became independent in 1977 (same source).

## Women's union

She headed the first National Union of Djiboutian Women (UNFD) from 1977 to 1999; it ran literacy and vocational classes for women ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%AFcha_Bogoreh_Darrar)). She also founded the Aïcha Bogoreh Mother and Child Centre for orphaned children (same source). She died in Addis Ababa on 5 August 2001 (same source).

## In short

A Dikhil-born activist who brought women into Djibouti's independence vote and led its women's union for over twenty years.

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