Herbert Chitepo

Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo (Known as "Chairman Chitepo")

First Black Rhodesian Barrister, National Chairman of ZANU, Liberation Strategist

Born 1923-06-15

Inyanga, Zimbabwe

Passed Away 1975-03-18 Lusaka, Zambia

Lifespan 51 years old

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Notice / Correction

"I am not fighting white people; I am fighting an oppressive, racist system. We want our land and our self-respect."

Archival Overview

First Black barrister in Southern Rhodesia and National Chairman of ZANU who conceived and directed the armed liberation struggle (Second Chimurenga) until his assassination in Lusaka in 1975.

Biographical Record

Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo was born on June 15, 1923, in Inyanga (Nyanga). Educated at Adams College and Fort Hare, he studied law at King's College London and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1954, making history as Southern Rhodesia's first Black barrister.

Defending African nationalists in colonial courts, Chitepo was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in newly independent Tanzania in 1962 by Julius Nyerere. In 1963, he was elected National Chairman of ZANU, establishing its military wing, ZANLA, in Lusaka and directing the decisive opening of the north-eastern military front in 1972. On March 18, 1975, a Rhodesian intelligence car bomb detonated outside his home in Lusaka, killing him instantly.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

National Heroes' Acre
Harare, Zimbabwe

                         GPS: -17.8390, 31.0030                    

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