Oliver Tambo (27 October 1917-24 April 1993) was President of the African National Congress from 1967 to 1991, succeeding Albert Lutuli and preceding Nelson Mandela.
Biography[]
Oliver Tambo was born in Nkantolo, South Africa on 27 October 1917, and he was one of the top students at his school. In 1940, Tambo was expelled from the University of Fort Hare for taking part in a students' strike, but in 1942 he would return to his old high school to teach science and mathematics. In 1943, Tambo, Nelson Mandela, and Walter Sisulu founded the African National Congress' Youth Wing, advocating boycotts, civil disobedience, strikes, and non-collaboration. In 1955, Walter Sisulu was banned as Secretary-General of the ANC for his communist ties, and Tambo became the new ANC Secretary-General. Tambo was sent abroad to mobilize opposition to apartheid, living in London until 1990. Following Albert Lutuli's death in 1967, he became the acting president of the ANC, a post that he held until 1991. In 1983, he was responsible for the Church Street bombing, which killed 17 people and wounded 197. On 13 December 1990, he returned to South Africa, and he died from a stroke in 1993.