Julius Nyerere

Who is Julius Nyerere?

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was the founding President of Tanzania and one of the most influential African statesmen of the twentieth century. Born in Butiama in what was then Tanganyika, he studied at Makerere College in Uganda and later at the University of Edinburgh, becoming the first Tanganyikan to earn a degree from a British university. Known affectionately as "Mwalimu" (teacher) for his earlier career as an educator, he founded the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) in 1954 and led the territory to independence in 1961, becoming its first Prime Minister and then President. In 1964 he oversaw the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form Tanzania. Through the 1967 Arusha Declaration he pursued Ujamaa, a policy of African socialism and self-reliance built around collective villages and state-led development. He was a prominent supporter of African liberation movements, hosting exiled leaders from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. In 1985 he voluntarily stepped down from the presidency, a rare act among leaders of his era, and remained a respected elder statesman until his death in 1999. He is remembered in Tanzania as "Baba wa Taifa," the Father of the Nation.

Sources: Julius K. Nyerere, Freedom and Unity (Uhuru na Umoja), Oxford University Press, 1966 · Thomas Molony, Nyerere: The Early Years, James Currey, 2014 · BBC News, obituary "Julius Nyerere: Father of the Nation", October 1999