Samuel Maharero
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Samuel Maharero (1856 - 1923) was a chief of the Herero people in German South-West Africa (today Namibia) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the Herero massacre.
[edit] Life
Maharero was son to Kamaharero (or Maharero), an important Herero warrior and cattle raider. Samuel Maharero went to the local Lutheran schools, where he was seen as a potential priest. When his father died in 1890, he gained the chieftainship in the area of Okahandja, although he did not gain much of his father's wealth and cattle according to Herero inheritance customs. Initially, he maintained fairly good relations with the German colonial administration under Theodor Leutwein. However, increasing problems, involving attacks by German farmers, economic difficulties and pests, and the use of Herero land for railroads, diminished relations.
Maharero secretly planned a revolt with the other chiefs against the German presence. The initial attacks in the revolt, begun on January 12, 1904, were successful and involved the killings of several German farmer families. Leutwein was replaced as military leader by Lothar von Trotha, who brought 15,000 troops and created a bounty of 5,000 marks for the capture of Maharero. The Herero fighters were destroyed at the Battle of Waterberg on August 11, 1904 and the remaining ones were driven into the deserts of Omaheke.
Maharero succeeded to lead some of his people to the British Bechuanaland Protectorate (today Botswana). He remained leader of the exiled herero, and became an important vassal of Sekgathôlê a Letsholathêbê, a chief in northern Bechuanaland. Samuel Maharero died there in 1923.
On August 23, 1923, he was returned to Okahandja and was ceremoniously buried.
Today he is considered a great hero in Namibia and is celebrated on Herero Day in August.
[edit] References
- Harring, Sidney. "Herero." Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah Shelton. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 436-438. 3 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.
