Velensky, Roy

Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare , Zimbabwe ), in a family of Lithuanian Jews and Africans . He moved to Northern Rhodesia, became involved in trade unions and joined the colonial legislative council in 1938. There he advocated the unification of Northern and Southern Rhodesia (later under the self-government of the Whites, the former colonial administration). Despite his failure, he succeeded in creating the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, a state within the British Empire, which sought to retain the prevailing white minority power, while moving towards progressive politics, unlike the apartheid regime in South Africa .

After becoming Prime Minister of the Federation in 1957, Welensky opposed British tendencies towards the introduction of governments consisting of indigenous Africans and used force to suppress politically motivated violence in the territories. He was an opponent of decolonization and supported the separatist movement of Moise Tshombe in the province of Katanga . After the appearance of the African government in two of the three territories of the Federation (Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland , now Zambia and Malawi respectively), it collapsed in 1963. Velensky after this returned to Salisbury, where he again took up politics and tried to stop Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia) from proclaiming independence unilaterally. At the end of the reign of the whites in 1979 and the independence of Rhodesia as Zimbabwe under the leadership of Robert Mugabe in 1980, Welensky moved to England, where he died in 1991.

A fervent supporter of England and the British Empire, Velensky called himself "half Jewish, half Afrikaner and 100% British."

• Welensky, Roy. Welensky's 4000 Days. - London: Collins, 1964.
• Blake, Robert. A History of Rhodesia. - New York: Knopf, 1977. - ISBN 0-394-48068-6 .
• Smith, Ian. Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal. - London: Blake, 2001. - ISBN 1-903402050 .
• Wood, JRT. So far and no further !: Rhodesia's bid for independence during the retreat from empire 1959-1965. - Victoria: Trafford, 2004. - ISBN 1-4120-4952-0 .