Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924, in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
He founded ZANU in 1963 as a resistance movement against British colonial rule and in 1980, when British rule ended, Mugabe became prime minister of the new Republic of Zimbabwe.
In 1987, he was elected president of Zimbabwe.
After sharing power with Morgan Tsvangirai from 2008 to 2013, Mugabe again resumed control of the country, until efforts to oust him from power were launched in late 2017.
Mugabe’s father was a carpenter. He went to work at a Jesuit mission in South Africa when Mugabe was just a boy, and mysteriously never came home. Mugabe’s mother, a teacher, was left to bring up Mugabe and his three siblings on her own.
As a child, Mugabe helped out by tending the family’s cows and making money through odd jobs. Mugabe was fortunate enough to receive a good education. He attended school at the local Jesuit mission under the supervision of school director Father O’Hea. A powerful influence on the boy, O’Hea taught Mugabe that all people should be treated equally and educated to the fulfillment of their abilities.
