From Hollywood stars to famous musicians
The wife of Vladimir Lenin was also a fervent Russian revolutionary. Krupskaya enjoyed a political career and helped shape the Soviet educational system and libraries.
Dalia Soto del Valle was Fidel Castro's second wife. Their private life was pretty secretive and her identity hidden. Del Valle first made a public appearance with Castro 30 years after their marriage.
Sources: (Grunge) (The Clever) (Legit)
Bobi Ladawa Mobutu was the second wife of former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) ruler Mobutu Sese Seko. The couple had four children together. She has been in exile since 1997, when her husband died.
Safia Farkash was the wife of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The story goes that the two met when Gaddafi was admitted into a hospital where Farkash worked as a nurse. They had seven biological children together and adopted two more.
After an extramarital affair, Grace Mugabe became the second wife of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's former president. Like her late husband, Grace Mugabe enjoyed a luxury lifestyle (she's known for international shopping sprees) financed by the regime.
Leïla Ben Ali was the second wife of Tunisia's former president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Leïla Ben Ali is credited with inciting the Arab Spring through years of corruption and embezzlement.
Former President of Uganda Idi Amin was a polygamist. He is known to have married six women. Pictured is Sarah Kyolaba, a former go-go dancer who was married to Amin from 1975 to 2003.
Like her husband, Flores has also been accused of dubious practices, including the placement of numerous family members in government roles.
Cilia Flores is the wife of Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro. The First Lady is both a lawyer and a politician.
Ri Sol-ju is the wife of North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Dubbed "the Kate Middleton of North Korea" by Western media because of her fashion sense, the First Lady remained out of the spotlight until 2012 and not much is known about her.
Lucía Hiriart is credited for convincing her husband, Augusto Pinochet, to go ahead with the coup that put him in charge of Chile. A big spender with an expensive taste, Hiriart is said to have had 20 people working for her.
Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos married former beauty queen, Imelda Marcos, in 1954. While her husband was in power, Imelda Marcos is said to have set up an embezzlement scheme that cost the country around US$10 billion.
Imelda Marcos owned an impressive jewelry collection, a great deal of expensive art, and several skyscrapers in New York City, just to name a few of her indulgences.
Chemical researcher Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of the infamous Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. Elena sought to be viewed as a top scientist, though it turns out that many papers that were published under her name were not actually hers.
Asma al-Assad was an investment banker in the UK before she married the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad. She was supposed to bring a democratic flair to the country, but leaked emails revealed that al-Assad is a lavish spender and a supporter of her husband's actions.
Khieu Ponnary was the wife of the Cambodian dictator Pol Pot. Dubbed "the old virgin" due to her conservative appearance. Ponnary helped cement the communist movement known as Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Jiang Qing, a.k.a. "Madame Mao," was reportedly as power-thirsty and ruthless as her husband, the Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong. Curiously, Qing also had an acting career and starred in movies under a stage name.
Even after becoming a mother, Nadezhda Alliluyeva continued to work as part of her husband's secretarial staff. Their relationship is said to have been troubled, with constant arguing, abuse, and Alliluyeva increasingly suffering from panic attacks.
Jiang Qing was a fervent believer in the regime, and even though she was tried and sentenced to death (later changed to life imprisonment), she never once apologized for the regime's brutal actions. Qing took her own life in 1991.
Nadezhda Alliluyeva was the spouse of the former Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. Alliluyeva first worked as Stalin's personal assistant, and when she turned 16, they got married.
Braun was known to wear expensive clothes and jewelry, to eat very little, and to drink a lot of champagne. Braun and Adolf Hitler were together for over a decade.
Hussein had many affairs, including one with a woman called Samira Shahbandar who he went on to marry. Both his wife, Samira, and ex-wife, Sajida, fled Iraq during the war.
Sajida Khayrallah was Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's first wife. They were first cousins whose marriage had been arranged since childhood. Khayrallah was known for adopting a Western-style, often importing clothes from Europe and dying her hair blonde.
Carmen Polo was the wife of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. A devout Catholic, Polo is said to have influenced the censorship of "immoral images" (i.e. anything alluding to sex) during her husband's regime.
Carmen Polo had a distinctive fashion sense and was known for wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, earning her the nicknames "Dona Pearls" and "Dona Necklaces." Many people found her to be a hypocrite as her lavish lifestyle conflicted with the piety she preached.
Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler's relationship is well known. It is believed that the two tied the knot just before they died, so Braun never lived her life as the official Führer's wife.
Rachele Mussolini was the second wife of the Italian fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. Coming from a humble background, Rachelle met her future husband while working as a kitchen maid at his parents' inn. They had five children together: Edda, Vittorio, Bruno, Romano, and Anna Maria.
Despite her husband's role, Rachele Mussolini lived a mostly reserved life and tried to stay out of the spotlight. She was spared when the dictator was killed in 1945. His mistress, Claretta Petacci, was not.
Also known as "the mother of the revolution" and "Sister Number One," Khieu Ponnary eventually disappeared from the spotlight due to the onset of severe mental illness.
History is tainted with many dictators, but in addition to the many atrocities some of these men have committed, they too had personal lives, romantic relationships, and families. As the saying goes, "behind every great man is a great woman," but who were the women behind some of history's most infamous dictators?
Click through the following gallery and learn more about these women.
Meet the wives of infamous dictators
Who were the women behind these despots?
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History is tainted with many dictators, but in addition to the many atrocities some of these men have committed, they too had personal lives, romantic relationships, and families. As the saying goes, "behind every great man is a great woman," but who were the women behind some of history's most infamous dictators?
Click through the following gallery and learn more about these women.