Definitions for ian smith
ian smith

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Smith, Ian Smith, Ian Douglas Smithnoun

   Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)

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1. Ian Smith

   Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first premier not born abroad, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 following prolonged dispute over the terms, particularly British demands for black majority rule. He remained Prime Minister for almost all of the 14 years of international isolation that followed, and oversaw Rhodesia's security forces during most of the Bush War, which pitted the unrecognised government against communist-backed black nationalist guerrilla movements. Smith, who has been described as personifying white Rhodesia, remains a highly controversial figure.Smith was born to British immigrants in Selukwe, a small town in the Southern Rhodesian Midlands, four years before the colony became self-governing in 1923. During the Second World War, he served as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot. A crash in Egypt caused debilitating facial and bodily wounds that remained conspicuous for the rest of his life; following rehabilitation, he served in Europe, where he was shot down and fought alongside Italian partisans. He established a farm in his hometown in 1948, and, the same year, became Member of Parliament for Selukwe—at 29 years old, the country's youngest ever MP. Originally a Liberal, he defected to the United Federal Party in 1953, and served as Chief Whip from 1958 onwards. He left that party in 1961 in protest over the territory's new constitution, and in the following year helped Winston Field to form the all-white, firmly conservative Rhodesian Front, which called for independence without an immediate shift to majority rule. Smith became Deputy Prime Minister following the Rhodesian Front's December 1962 election victory, and stepped up to the premiership after Field resigned in April 1964. With the UK government refusing to grant independence while Rhodesia did not devise a set timetable for the introduction of majority rule, talks with the UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson repeatedly broke down, leading Smith and his Cabinet to declare independence on 11 November 1965. His government endured in the face of United Nations economic sanctions with the assistance of South Africa and, until 1974, Portugal. Talks with the UK in 1966, 1968 and 1971 came to nothing. Smith declared Rhodesia a republic in 1970 and led the RF to three more decisive election victories over the next seven years. After the Bush War began in earnest in 1972, he negotiated with the non-militant nationalist leader Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the rival guerrilla movements headed by Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. In 1978, Smith and non-militant nationalists including Muzorewa signed the Internal Settlement, under which the country became Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. Mugabe and Nkomo continued fighting; no country recognised the settlement. Smith was part of Muzorewa's delegation that settled with the UK and the revolutionary guerrillas at Lancaster House, and, following Zimbabwe's recognised independence in 1980, he was Leader of the Opposition during Mugabe's first seven years in power. Smith was a stridently vocal critic of the Mugabe government both before and after his retirement from frontline politics in 1987; he dedicated much of his 1997 memoirs, The Great Betrayal, to condemning Mugabe and several UK politicians. As Mugabe's reputation thereafter plummeted amid Zimbabwe's economic ruin, reckoning of Smith and his legacy improved. Zimbabwean opposition supporters lauded the elderly Smith as a symbol of resistance. He remained in Zimbabwe until 2005, when he moved to Cape Town, South Africa, for medical reasons. He died two years later at the age of 88.

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1. ian smith

   Ian Smith can refer to multiple personalities, mainly depending on geographical location or context. However, generally, Ian Smith (1919–2007) was a political figure from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He served as the Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979, during which he famously declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain, leading the country under white minority rule until a transition to a multi-racial democracy. He remains a controversial figure due to his policies and views on racial segregation.

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1. Ian Smith

   Ian Douglas Smith, GCLM, ID was a Rhodesian politician active in the governments of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979. Born and raised in Selukwe, a small rural town in the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, Smith served in the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War and, after graduating from Rhodes University in South Africa, bought a farm in his home town in 1948. At the same time, he was elected as Selukwe's representative in the legislative assembly, running for the Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party; in doing so he became Southern Rhodesia's youngest ever member of parliament. Smith supported the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953, and won the Midlands federal constituency for the United Federal Party in that year's inaugural federal election; following his election at federal level he resigned the territorial Selukwe seat. He served as the UFP's Chief Whip in the Federal Assembly from 1958 to 1962 before resigning to help form the pro-independence Rhodesia Reform Party, which shortly merged with the Dominion Party to form the Rhodesian Front. After the RF's victory in the 1962 Southern Rhodesian general election Smith became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Treasury under Prime Minister Winston Field.

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1. ian smith

   Quotes by ian smith -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by ian smith on the Quotes.net website.

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How to pronounce ian smith?

1. Alex

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Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ian smith in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ian smith in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ian smith
2. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Smith
3. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
4. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=ian smith