Feb 8, 2014 · Photos from the ruined palace of Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa, home to several hundred rag-tag army recruits caught up in the chaos that has enveloped the Central African Republic.

Apr 5, 2014 · A 3½-metre bronze statue of Bokassa dominates the outer courtyard. Bokassa's tomb is a shabby affair, covered in bathroom tiles and sheltered by six concrete pillars supporting a corrugated...

Jan 2, 2009 · Bokassa spent tens of millions of dollars of public money staging a lavish and ludicrous coronation for himself in the capital Bangui. Wearing costumes styled on Napoleon, he rode in a carriage...

An imposing statue of Jean-Bedel Bokassa greets a visitor to Berengo. Less than two years later Bokassa would personally participate in the torture and murder of protesting schoolchildren within the walls of Bangui’s notorious Ngaragba prison.

Monument to vainglory: the imposing statue which Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa erected for himself in the Central African Empire’s capital of Bangui, a grim reminder of an evil tyranny.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa ([ʒɑ̃ bedɛl bɔkasa] ⓘ; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996) was a Central African politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR), after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état on 1 January 1966.

When Bokassa was overthrown in 1979, jubilant crowds vented their hatred on a giant statue of the tyrant who for almost 14 years ran the Central African Republic (or the Central African Empire...

Statue of Bokassa knocked off in Bangui after a coup d'etat, Central African Republic On September 24, 1979. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

"Bokassa 1st – Jean-bedel Bokassa (1921-1996)" Emperor of Central Africa from December 1976 to September 1979: Gift offered to the distinguished guests of his coronation on December 5, 1977: Golden cast iron replica of his throne (height 24cm, wingspan 40cm).

The collection is unrivaled in its historical and cultural significance.