Faith & Community
Peerless
John Chilembwe
c. 1871 – 1915
Led the 1915 uprising against colonial rule
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Malawi Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A Baptist minister who rose against British rule in 1915 knowing he would lose. He is on the banknotes, and Malawi marks the day. Nothing in the country's nationalism starts before him.
John Chilembwe was an American-educated Baptist minister who led the January 1915 uprising against British colonial rule in Nyasaland, and is regarded as the forerunner and martyr of Malawian nationalism.
Taken to the United States in 1897, he took a degree from a Black theological college and returned in 1900 to found the Providence Industrial Mission near Blantyre. His revolt grew from disgust at the cruelty of white rule on the estates, and immediately from the conscription of Nyasa soldiers to fight the Germans in East Africa. Receiving no answer to his written protest, he and a few followers struck knowing it was hopeless. He was shot on 3 February 1915 trying to cross into Mozambique.
Taken to the United States in 1897, he took a degree from a Black theological college and returned in 1900 to found the Providence Industrial Mission near Blantyre. His revolt grew from disgust at the cruelty of white rule on the estates, and immediately from the conscription of Nyasa soldiers to fight the Germans in East Africa. Receiving no answer to his written protest, he and a few followers struck knowing it was hopeless. He was shot on 3 February 1915 trying to cross into Mozambique.
- Britannica — John Chilembwe
- Wikipedia — Chilembwe uprising
- Scotland Malawi Partnership — Why remember John Chilembwe?
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