Cecil Rhodes was an avowed imperialist politician and a successful entrepreneur who specialized in Southern African mining and farming. He made his initial fortune in diamond-mining at Kimberley and later invested in gold mines on the Witwatersrand as well as in farms in the Western Cape and what is now called Zimbabwe. He was elected to the Cape Parliament in 1879, serving until his death in 1902. From 1890 to 1896 he was the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, best known for his efforts to disenfranchise Africans and for staging an abortive coup against the independent Boer republic in the Transvaal. His will endowed the Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford University, his alma mater.
Rhodes was born on 5 July 1853 at Bishop’s …
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Citation: Storey, William. "Cecil Rhodes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 May 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3756, accessed 26 November 2024.]
