Mathieu Kérékou, (born Sept. 2, 1933, Kouarfa, French Dahomey [now Benin]—died Oct. 14, 2015, Cotonou, Benin), Beninese military and political leader who seized power in a military coup (1972), declared (1974) a one-party Marxist-Leninist state, renamed (1975) the country the People’s Republic of