Graça Machel is the only woman in the world to have been First Lady of two different countries, serving as the First Lady of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986 and the First Lady of South Africa from 1998 to 1999.

She married Samora Machel President of Mozambique in the year 1975.Samora Machel died in a plane crash over South Africa in 1986.She married South African President Nelson Mandela on 18 July 1998, his 80th birthday.Machel currently serves as the chair of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) Eminent Advisory Board.