Ian Douglas Smith
Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1919-2007) · United Kingdom · On the map · Politicians · Died at 88
Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian and later Zimbabwean politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979.
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Photos 12
Smith's parents, Jock and Agnes, in 1935
Smith with No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF, c. 1943, in the Second World War's Middle Eastern theatre
Smith in the 1940s
College House, the men's residence at Rhodes University in South Africa, Smith's alma mater
The seventh Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly, the first to feature Smith, in 1948. Smith is the left-most figure in the back row.
The three territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and NyasalandAbout this person
He was the country's first leader to be born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 in opposition to the demands for the implementation of majority rule as a condition for independence. His 15 years in power were defined by the country's international isolation and involvement in the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the Rhodesian Security Forces against the Soviet and Chinese-funded military wings of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).
