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Ian Smith

Ian SmithAKA Ian Douglas Smith

Born: 8-Apr-1919
Birthplace: Shurugwi, Zimbabwe
Died: 20-Nov-2007
Location of death: Cape Town, South Africa
Cause of death: unspecified

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Head of State

Nationality: Zimbabwe
Executive summary: Rhodesian Prime Minister, 1965-79

Military service: RAF (130th Squadron, 1941-45)

"No African rule in my lifetime," he once declared. "The white man is master of Rhodesia. He has built it, and he intends to keep it."

On 2 March 1970, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith unilaterally declared his nation's complete independence from the United Kingdom. At this time Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be titular head of state of Rhodesia.

Smith relinquished power in 1979. He was thrown out of parliament by Robert Mugabe in 1986, and he was always Mugabe's most vocal critic, prompting the dictator to threaten Smith with arrest for alleged war crimes.

Father: Douglas Smith
Mother: Agnes Smith
Wife: Janet Watt (m. 1948, d. 1994, two sons, one daughter)

    High School: Selukwe High School, Selukwe, Rhodesia
    University: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Prime Minister of Rhodesia (11-Nov-1965 to 1-Jun-1979)

Author of books:
The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (1997, memoir)


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