Robert Mugabe

==Early life==
===Childhood: 1924–1945===
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 at the [[Kutama, Zimbabwe|Kutama Mission]] village in Southern Rhodesia's [[Zvimba District]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=17|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=19}} His father, Gabriel Matibiri, was a carpenter while his mother Bona was a Christian [[catechist]] for the village children.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=11|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=17|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3pp=19, 21|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=15}} They had been trained in their professions by the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]]s, the [[Roman Catholic]] religious order which had established the mission.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=19}} Bona and Gabriel had six children: Miteri (Michael), Raphael, Robert, Dhonandhe (Donald), [[Sabina Mugabe|Sabina]], and Bridgette.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=11|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=17}} They belonged to the Zezuru clan, one of the smallest branches of the [[Shona people|Shona tribe]].{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=26}} Mugabe's paternal grandfather was [[Chieftain|Chief]] Constantine Karigamombe, alias "Matibiri", a powerful figure who served King [[Lobengula]] in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-118372.html|title=Mugabe's grandfather served King Lobengula|publisher=Bulawayo|date=23 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107223825/http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-118372.html|archive-date=7 November 2017}}</ref> Through his father, he claimed membership of the [[chieftaincy]] family that has provided the hereditary rulers of Zvimba for generations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/president-at-91-how-president-mugabe-became-my-father|title=President At 91: How President Mugabe Became My Father|date=25 January 2015 |institution=The Sunday Mail|access-date=18 February 2020}}</ref>

The Jesuits were strict disciplinarians and under their influence Mugabe developed an intense self-discipline,{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=19}} while also becoming a devout Catholic.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=3}} Mugabe excelled at school,{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=18}} where he was a secretive and solitary child,{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=18|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=20}} preferring to read, rather than playing sports or socialising with other children.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=18|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=20–21}} He was taunted by many of the other children, who regarded him as a coward and a [[mother's boy]].{{sfn|Holland|2008|pp=6–7}}

In about 1930 Gabriel had an argument with one of the Jesuits, and as a result the Mugabe family was expelled from the mission village by its French leader, Father Jean-Baptiste Loubière.{{sfn|Blair|2002|pp=17–18}} The family settled in a village about {{convert|7|mi|km|0|abbr=off|order=flip}} away; the children were permitted to remain at the mission primary school, living with relatives in Kutama during term-time and returning to their parental home on weekends.{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=18}} Around the same time, Robert's older brother Raphael died, likely of [[diarrhoea]].{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=18}} In early 1934, Robert's other older brother, Michael, also died, after consuming poisoned maize.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=11|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=18|3a1=Holland|3y=2008|3p=224}} Later that year, Gabriel left his family in search of employment in [[Bulawayo]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=18|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=21|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=15}} He subsequently abandoned Bona and their six children and established a relationship with another woman, with whom he had three further offspring.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=21}}

Loubière died shortly after and was replaced by an Irishman, Father Jerome O'Hea, who welcomed the return of the Mugabe family to Kutama.{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=18}} In contrast to the racism that permeated Southern Rhodesian society, under O'Hea's leadership the Kutama Mission preached an ethos of racial equality.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=15|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=16}} O'Hea nurtured the young Mugabe; shortly before his death in 1970 he described the latter as having "an exceptional mind and an exceptional heart".{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=12|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=18|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=16}} As well as helping provide Mugabe with a Christian education, O'Hea taught him about the [[Irish War of Independence]], in which Irish revolutionaries had overthrown the British imperial regime.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=21|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=16}} After completing six years of elementary education, in 1941 Mugabe was offered a place on a teacher training course at [[Kutama College]]. Mugabe's mother could not afford the tuition fees, which were paid in part by his grandfather and in part by O'Hea.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=14|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=18|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3p=21|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=16}} As part of this education, Mugabe began teaching at his old school, earning £2 per month, which he used to support his family.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=18|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=16}} In 1944, Gabriel returned to Kutama with his three new children, but died shortly after, leaving Robert to take financial responsibility for both his three siblings and three half-siblings.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=18|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=16}} Having attained a teaching diploma, Mugabe left Kutama in 1945.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=22}}

=== University education and teaching career: 1945–1960===
During the following years, Mugabe taught at various schools around Southern Rhodesia,{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=19|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3p=22}} among them the Dadaya Mission school in [[Zvishavane|Shabani]].{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2pp=16–17}} There is no evidence that Mugabe was involved in political activity at the time, and he did not participate in the country's [[1948 in Southern Rhodesia|1948 general strike]].{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=19}} In 1949 he won a scholarship to study at the [[University of Fort Hare]] in South Africa's [[Eastern Cape]].{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=19|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3p=22|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=17}} There he joined the [[African National Congress]] youth league (ANCYL){{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=17|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} and attended [[African nationalism|African nationalist]] meetings, where he met a number of Jewish South African [[communism|communists]] who introduced him to [[Marxism|Marxist]] ideas.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=16|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=22}} He later related that despite this exposure to Marxism, his biggest influence at the time were the actions of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] during the [[Indian independence movement]].{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=17|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=22–23}} In 1952, he left the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English literature.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=19|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} In later years he described his time at Fort Hare as the "turning point" in his life.{{sfn|Smith|Simpson|1981|p=17}}

[[File:Kwame Nkrumah (JFKWHP-AR6409-A).jpg|thumb|upright|Mugabe was inspired by the example set by Ghana's [[Kwame Nkrumah]].]]
Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia in 1952,{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=19|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=23}} by which time—he later related— he was "completely hostile to the [colonialist] system".{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=23}} Here, his first job was as a teacher at the Driefontein Roman Catholic Mission School near [[Mvuma|Umvuma]].{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=17|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} In 1953 he relocated to the Highfield Government School in [[Harare|Salisbury]]'s [[Mbare|Harari township]] and in 1954 to the Mambo Township Government School in [[Gwelo]].{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=17}} Meanwhile, he gained a [[Bachelor of Education]] degree by correspondence from the [[University of South Africa]],{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=23|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} and ordered a number of Marxist tracts—among them [[Karl Marx]]'s ''[[Capital: Critique of Political Economy|Capital]]'' and [[Friedrich Engels]]' ''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England]]''—from a London mail-order company.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=18|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=23}} Despite his growing interest in politics, he was not active in any political movement.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=23}} He joined a number of inter-racial groups, such as the [[Capricorn Africa Society]], through which he mixed with both black and white Rhodesians.{{sfn|Smith|Simpson|1981|pp=18–19}} [[Guy Clutton-Brock]], who knew Mugabe through this group, later noted that he was "an extraordinary young man" who could be "a bit of a cold fish at times" but "could talk about [[Elvis Presley]] or [[Bing Crosby]] as easily as politics".{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=19|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2pp=18–19}}

From 1955 to 1958, Mugabe lived in neighbouring [[Northern Rhodesia]], where he worked at Chalimbana Teacher Training College in [[Lusaka]].{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=23|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} There he continued his education by working on a second degree by correspondence, this time a Bachelor of Administration from the [[University of London International Programmes]] through distance and learning. {{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=23|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=17}} In Northern Rhodesia, he was taken in for a time by the family of [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]], whom Mugabe inspired to join the liberation movement and who would later go on to be [[President of Zimbabwe]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/emmerson-mnangagwa-zimbabwe-crocodile-171124062910487.html|title=Who is Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's 'Crocodile'?|last=Marima|first=Tendai|date=24 November 2017|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]|access-date=25 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125015900/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/emmerson-mnangagwa-zimbabwe-crocodile-171124062910487.html|archive-date=25 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1958, Mugabe moved to Ghana to work at St Mary's Teacher Training College in [[Takoradi]].{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=21|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=19|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3p=23}} He taught at Apowa Secondary School, also at Takoradi, after obtaining his local certification at [[Achimota School|Achimota College]] (1958–1960), where he met his first wife, [[Sally Mugabe|Sally Hayfron]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.globalblackhistory.com/2012/02/robert-mugabe-early-years.html|title=Robert Mugabe: The Early Years – Global Black History|date=17 February 2012|work=Global Black History|access-date=24 June 2018|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209104945/http://www.globalblackhistory.com/2012/02/robert-mugabe-early-years.html|archive-date=9 December 2017}}</ref> According to Mugabe, "I went [to Ghana] as an adventurist. I wanted to see what it would be like in an independent African state".{{sfn|Smith|Simpson|1981|p=22}} Ghana had been the first African state to gain independence from European colonial powers and under the leadership of [[Kwame Nkrumah]] underwent a range of African nationalist reforms; Mugabe revelled in this environment.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=21|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=19|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3pp=23–24}} In tandem with his teaching, Mugabe attended the [[Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute]] in [[Winneba]].{{sfnm|1a1=Norman|1y=2008|1p=18|2a1=Ndlovu-Gatsheni|2y=2009|2p=1142}} Mugabe later claimed that it was in Ghana that he finally embraced Marxism.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=22|2a1=Blair|2y=2002|2p=19|3a1=Meredith|3y=2002|3p=24|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=18}} He also began a relationship there with Hayfron who worked at the college and shared his political interests.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=22|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=24|3a1=Holland|3y=2008|3pp=11–12|4a1=Norman|4y=2008|4p=17}}