Angola’s former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos has died aged 79. His passing was announced by the country’s presidency on Friday.

Dos Santos died at 11.10am Spanish time at the Barcelona Teknon clinic following a prolonged illness, the presidency said.

He died in the Barcelona clinic where he was hospitalised in June, more than five years after he left power in May 2017.

The announcement said dos Santos, who ruled Angola for almost 40 years from 1979, was “a statesman of great historical scale who governed … the Angolan nation through very difficult times.”

Dos Santos had mostly lived in Barcelona since stepping down in 2017 and he reportedly had been undergoing treatment there for health problems.

Angola’s current head of state, Joao Lourenco, announced five days of national mourning starting Friday, when the country’s flag will fly at half-staff and public events are canceled.

Dos Santos was replaced in 2017 by Lourenço, who, despite being from the incumbent’s People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, speedily decided to probe allegations of multibillion-dollar corruption during the ex-president era, targeting the former leader’s children.

Dos Santos daughter Isabel, dubbed the “princess” and tapped in 2016 to head the national oil company Sonangol, is now being hounded by judges and faces a slew of corruption investigations.

According to reports, his son, Filomeno has also been in prison since 2019, also for corruption.

Dos Santos, who was married four times, is survived by his current wife, Ana Paula, with whom he has three children. He is known to have at least three other children and various grandchildren.

He ruled Angola with an iron fist but his imprint did not survive his departure.