Portal:Zimbabwe/Featured biography/December 2007

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Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID (April 8, 1919 - November 20, 2007) served as the Prime Minister of the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from April 13, 1964 to November 11, 1965 and as the first Prime Minister of Rhodesia from November 11, 1965 to June 1, 1979 during white minority rule. Smith unilaterally declared independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom on November 11, 1965. The country failed to gain international recognition and United Nations economic sanctions were instituted.

His party, the Rhodesian Front, won all general elections (only the tiny white minority population was allowed to vote in these) until the end of white rule in 1979. The Smith administration fought against black nationalists in the 1971-1979 Rhodesian Bush War. He negotiated an Internal Settlement in 1979 after fourteen years of maintaining white rule in the face of war, economic sanctions, and international pressure. The agreement led to biracial rule and a coalition government led by Prime Minister Abel Muzorewa of the UANC. The Lancaster House Agreement and the election of Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister of the newly renamed Zimbabwe in 1980 marked the beginning of majority rule. Smith remained a member of the Zimbabwe Parliament until 1987. Subsequently, he enjoyed a long and comfortable retirement in Zimbabwe before relocating to Cape Town, South Africa.