Oliver Tambo
South African anti-apartheid activist and politician (1917–1993)
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 1917 – 24 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician, activist, and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Biography
Childhood
Oliver Tambo was born on 27 October 1917 in the village of Nkantolo about 20 kilometres from Bizana; eastern Pondoland in what is now the Eastern Cape. Pondoland, known for its rich, fertile land, was the last chiefdom in South Africa to remain independent; its annexation by the British in the late 19th century marked the final stage of colonial dispossession in the region .Most of the people in the village were farmers.
His father, Mzimeni Tambo, was the son of a farmer and an assistant salesperson at a local trading store. Mzimeni had four wives and ten children, all of whom were literate. Oliver's mother, Julia, was Mzimeni's third wife. Tambo's father was very aware of the British annexation, and expressed sentiment by naming Oliver,"Kaizana", after the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, Britains enemy during World War I.
Education
Oliver began his formal education at the age of seven at the Ludeke Methodist School, and completed his primary education at Holy Cross Mission. He later moved to Johannesburg where he attended St Peter’s College (present day St. Martin's School) in Rosettenville graduating in 1938 as one of the top students. Tambo initially wanted to study medicine but at the time, black students were not allowed to.
The public source identifies “Oliver Tambo” as south African anti-apartheid activist and politician (1917–1993). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Oliver, Tambo and South.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q359579. VIAF identifies the subject as 79048996. The Library of Congress control number is n86870320. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1917, 1993, 1967 and 1991.
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This entry incorporates text from “Oliver Tambo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.