Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada (c. 1925[1] – 16 August 2003) was a repressive dictator who ruled the African country of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He lost power after trying to take over some Tanzanian land. The President of Tanzania at the time, Julius Nyerere, invaded Uganda. After Tanzanian forces took control of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, Amin fled.
Idi Amin | |
|---|---|
| File:Idi Amin -Archives New Zealand AAWV 23583, KIRK1, 5(B), R23930288.jpg Amin in 1973 | |
| 3rd President of Uganda | |
| In office 25 January 1971 – 11 April 1979 | |
| Vice President | Mustafa Adrisi |
| Preceded by | Milton Obote |
| Succeeded by | Yusufu Lule |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Idi Amin Dada 1925 Koboko, Uganda |
| Died | August 16, 2003 (aged 77) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Spouse(s) | Malyamu Amin (divorced) Kay Amin (divorced) Nora Amin (divorced) Madina Amin (widow) Sarah Amin (widow) |
| Profession | Soldier Boxer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom Uganda |
| Branch/service | British Army Ugandan Army |
| Years of service | 1946–1962 (UK) 1962–1979 (Uganda) |
| Rank | Lieutenant (UK) Field Marshal (Uganda, self-styled) |
| Unit | King's African Rifles |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces |
| Battles/wars | Mau Mau Uprising 1971 Ugandan coup d'état Uganda-Tanzania War |
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Amin was famous for forcing all Asians to leave Uganda. He thought that Asian people living in Uganda (who were mostly Indians and Pakistanis) were taking jobs away from Ugandan workers. After Amin lost power, many of the Asians who had left Uganda came back.
He was a convert to Islam.[2] He supported the cause of Palestinian freedom. This caused the hijacking of an Air France flight that landed in Entebbe, Uganda.
Amin became known as a very brutal leader, and in the 1970s he was compared to historical persons such as Caligula, Hitler, Beria and Himmler. In several of the neighboring countries he was viewed as a "sadist, murderer, fascist and oppressor."
In 1979, Amin was thrown out of Uganda and barred from ever returning. He fled to Libya, then to Saudi Arabia.
Amin was put on life support on July 18, 2003. When his organs began to fail, his family decided to take him off of life support. He died in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from multiple organ failure, one day before his 78th birthday. He was buried without any memorial in a simple grave without a headstone.
The Last King of Scotland (2006) is a movie about Amin's government. Forest Whitaker, who played Amin, won an Academy Award for best actor.
Amin was credited with killing Janani Luwum in February 1977.
Idi Amin Media
- Idi Amin - Levi Eshkol - Entebbe 1966-06-12.jpg
Amin (centre-left) as chief of staff during a visit of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol (centre) in 1966
Milton Obote, Uganda's second president, whom Amin overthrew in a coup d'état in 1971
- Amin Dadas Torture chambers.jpg
Many victims of Amin's regime perished in torture chambers during his reign
- Aziaten die Oeganda uitgewezen zijn op Schiphol, groep Aziaten na aankomst, Bestanddeelnr 926-0503.jpg
Refugees of Uganda's Asian Community in the*Netherlands, November 1972
- ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 08 - 081 - The inauguration of William Richard Tolbert, 20th President of Liberia. Tolbert and Idi Amin - Ashmun street, Monrovia, Liberia, 1976.tiff
Idi Amin during the inauguration of William Tolbert, 19th president of Liberia, in 1976
- Lake Viktoria 2009-08-26 14-29-23.JPG
Remnants of Amin's palace near Lake Victoria
- The Late Idi Amin Dada's Presidential Car.png
Amin's Mercedes Benz that he owned between 1972 and 1979
- Idi Amin caricature2.jpg
A 1977 caricature of Amin in military and presidential attire by Edmund S. Valtman
Related pages
References
- ↑ Many sources, like Encyclopædia Britannica, Encarta and the Columbia Encyclopedia, hold that Amin was born in Koboko or Kampala circa 1925, and that the exact date of his birth is unknown. Researcher Fred Guweddeko claimed that Amin was born on 17 May 1928,[1] Archived 2008-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, but that is disputed.[2] The only certainty is that Amin was born some time during the mid-1920s.
- ↑ The Idi Amin I knew