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Biography
Ana Paula Cristovão Lemos dos Santos (born October 17, 1963) is the wife of former President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos. She served as Angola's First Lady from 1991 to 2017.
Former fashion model and air hostess of the presidential Angolan aeroplane, Ana Paula dos Santos knew her husband during the time in which she was working on presidential flights. They married on 17 May 1991 and are parents of three children, Eduane Danilo dos Santos (born 29 September 1991), Joseana dos Santos (born 5 April 1995) and Eduardo Breno dos Santos (born 2 October 1998). Between 1990 and 1994, she completed a state teacher training at the National Institute of Education, Luanda. Later she completed a course of law at the Faculty of Law of the Agostinho Neto University.
A diplomat described the President and First Lady as: "a handsome couple, elegantly and expensively dressed, looking for all the world as though they're living in southern California." In 1997 Ana Paula undiplomatically announced that her five-year-old son would enroll at the Portuguese school in Luanda because of the "bad quality" of state education (for which many hold her husband responsible). She has also tried to make her presence felt in administrative matters; a move which has irritated the political mainstream. Also under fire are her business interests, particularly diamonds.
She is a patron of the Committee to support rural women (COMUR), supporting with micro-credit funds. She represented her country at the Micro-credit Summit for Heads of States and Governments in Washington D.C., in 1997.
Ana Paula dos Santos is also very active in her support of landmine victims. Therefore she founded the Lwini Fund for social solidarity which is dedicated to the support of civilians, particularly women and children.