Roy Welensky, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Roy Welensky

Northern Rhodesian politician

Date of Birth: 20-Jan-1907

Place of Birth: Harare, Harare Province, Zimbabwe

Date of Death: 05-Dec-1991

Profession: engineer, politician, railroad engineer, boxer, trade unionist

Nationality: United Kingdom, Zambia

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius


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About Roy Welensky

  • Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky, KCMG (né Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) to an Afrikaner mother and a Lithuanian Jewish father, he moved to Northern Rhodesia, became involved with the trade unions, and entered the colonial legislative council in 1938.
  • There, he campaigned for the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia (the latter under White self-government, the former under the colonial office).
  • Although unsuccessful, he succeeded in the formation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, a state within the British Empire that sought to retain predominant power for the White minority while moving in a progressive political direction, in contrast to South Africa under the apartheid system. Becoming Prime Minister of the Federation in 1957, Welensky opposed British moves towards Black majority rule, and used force to suppress politically motivated violence in the territories.
  • After the advent of Black majority rule in two of the Federation's three territories (Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now Zambia and Malawi respectively), it collapsed in 1963.
  • Welensky retired to Salisbury, where he re-entered politics and attempted to stop Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia) from unilaterally declaring itself independent.
  • With the end of White minority rule in 1979, and the recognised independence of Rhodesia as the "Republic of Zimbabwe" under Robert Mugabe in 1980, Welensky emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he died in England in 1991.
  • A fervent admirer of Britain and its Empire, Welensky described himself as "half Jewish, half Afrikaner [and] 100% British".

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