Robert Mugabe

===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}}