After Kim Jong-Un Marries Here's The Trouble And Strife Of Being A Dictator's Wife

The Trouble And Strife Of Being A Dictator's Wife
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Behind every great man is a great woman. And the same can be said for dictators.

From renowned polygamist Idi Amin to 40-hours wed Adolf Hitler, the importance of a woman in their lives was huge.

As North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un dips his big toe into married life, we’ve taken a look at other loved ones of history’s most brutal rulers.

The bad news for singer Ri Sol Ju, who has wed her North Korean love, is that it’s not always a bed of roses...

Elena Ceausesu

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The dead bodies of ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, right, and his wife Elena are shown in this Romanian TV

The last image of Elena, deputy PM of Romania, taken on Christmas Day, 1989 is not one for the family album.

The grainy image shows the bodies of Elena and husband Nicolae slumped in front of a bullet riddled wall. They had been ousted from power and executed.

For some Elena, the daughter of a peasant farmer, had become almost iconic. She was a chemical research scientist and well respected.

But her demise was dramatic. At their trial her husband apparently disapproved everytime she spoke. She was 73 when she was killed.

Lucia Hiriart (Pinochet)

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Lucia Pinochet Hiriart after spending two nights behind bars accused of corruption

Augusto Pinochet was the controversial leader of Chile from 1973 to 1990 where he headed a military junta durng which more than 3,000 people died in political violence.

He died in 2006 aged 91, leaving the memory of torture and death for his political rivals.

María Lucía Hiriat Rodríguez had two sons and three daughters with the former dictator, but in 2005 things started to go wrong for the former first lady.

Reports (and subsequent mugshot) revealed a judge charged her as an accomplice in a multi-million dollar tax fraud case.

Imelda Marcos

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Former first lady Imelda Marcos talks on a mobile phone as she meets reporters in northern Philippines

A living legend of sorts. Think of Imelda Marcos (or her full name Imelda Remedios Visitasion Romualdez) and what word comes to mind? That's right, shoes.

Born the daughter of a law professor, Imelda went on to become a beauty queen.

After marrying Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos, she became a favourite of magazine editors and was famed for her extravagant lifestyle - 2,700 pairs of shoes for a start!

She has battled numerous corruption cases, and in terms of the suffering some former first ladies have endured, Marcos hasn't done too badly.

Eva Braun

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A rare archive picture of Adolf Hitler dozing in an armchair at his Berghof alpine residence in Bavaria with his mistress, Eva Braun, around 1936

The same can't be said for Adolf Hitler's long-term mistress and eventual wife.

After meeting the German dictator when she was only 17, Braun was often seen at his side.

It has been claimed she attempted suicide twice during their early relationship. Her loyalty to Hitler was evident to the very end.

On 30 April, 1945, as Hitler's terrible reign drew to an end the couple are believed to have killed themselves.

According to eyewitness reports, Braun's dogs were shot by Hitler's dog handler after her death.

Idi Amin

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Uganda's President Idi Amin, centre, and his wife, Sarah, leave the Grand Hotel in Rome

This is where is gets complex. Amin, the Ugandan dictator, liked to get married - a total of five times.

According to editors on Wikipedia, who seem to have a better grasp of his personal life:

He married his first and second wives, Malyamu and Kay, in 1966. The next year, he married Nora and then married Nalongo Madina in 1972. On 26 March 1974, he announced on Radio Uganda that he had divorced Malyamu, Nora and Kay. Malyamu was arrested in Tororo on the Kenyan border in April 1974 and accused of attempting to smuggle a bolt of fabric into Kenya.

She later moved to London. Kay died on 13 August 1974, reportedly from an attempted surgical abortion performed by her lover Dr. Mbalu Mukasa (who later committed suicide). Her body was found dismembered.

In August 1975, during the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit meeting in Kampala, Amin married Sarah Kyolaba. Sarah's boyfriend, whom she had been living with before she met Amin, vanished and was never heard from again. By 1993, Amin was living with the last nine of his children and a single wife, Mama a Chumaru, the mother of the youngest four of his children. His last known child, daughter Iman, was born in 1992. According to The Monitor, Amin married a few months before his death in 2003.

So in short, arrest, death, dismemberment, suicide and vanishing.