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Nyerere, 1981 (credit: Hanos/Liaison Agency)

(born March 1922, Butiama, Tanganyika — died Oct. 14, 1999, London, Eng.) First prime minister of independent Tanganyika (1961), first president of Tanzania (1964 – 85), and the major force behind the Organization of African Unity (OAU; now African Union). He taught in Catholic schools before studying history and economics in Britain. As leader of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), he advocated peaceful change, social equality, and ethnic harmony. In elections in 1958 – 60 TANU won many seats in the legislature. As president he collectivized village farmlands, carried out mass literacy campaigns, and instituted universal education. He sought to make Tanzania economically self-sufficient, an effort that ultimately failed. In 1979 he authorized the invasion of Uganda to overthrow Idi Amin. Within the OAU he advocated the overthrow of white-suprematist governments in South Africa, Rhodesia, and South West Africa. After retiring from politics in 1990, Nyerere devoted the rest of his life to farming and diplomacy.

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