Seretse Khama
President of Botswana
Died when: 59 years 12 days (708 months)Star Sign: Cancer
Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980.
Born into an influential royal family of what was then the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, he was educated abroad in neighbouring country of South Africa and then in the United Kingdom.
While in Britain, he married an Englishwoman named Ruth Williams, a decision opposed by the white-minority government of South Africa and which led to a controversy resulting in the British government making him stay in England in exile so as to not sour Anglo-South African relations.
After the end of his exile, Khama led his country's independence movement and transition from British rule into an independent nation.
He founded the Botswana Democratic Party in 1962 and became Prime Minister in 1965.In 1966, Botswana gained independence and Khama was elected as its first president.
During his presidency, the country underwent rapid economic and social progress.