Julius Nyerere. Humanist, Politician, Thinker

by Russian Academy of Sciences Institute for African Studies

This collection contains major papers delivered at a conference dedicated to the memory of Julius Nyerere, held in January 2000 at the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The contributors, scholars and diplomats in Russia with Africa interests, rank Nyerere on a par with national leaders such as Gandhi, Nkrumah and Nasser. Their essays show that not only was Nyerere a political figure of stature, but that he was also an uncommon philosopher-theorist who made an important contribution to the intellectual development of his country and of the Kiswahili language. They further illustrate Nyerere’s reliance on unity and cooperation between African countries, and his belief that the elimination of poverty and backwardness in the country could only become a reality through cooperation with African States and other Third World countries.

Overall, this collection of papers from the Russian culture argue that Nyerere’s extraordinary role in the history of Africa and his contribution to Africa’s development and letters is still under-recognised, and argue for the restitution of his writings and ideas.

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Reviews

“ The views expressed of Mwalimu are generally objective and well-balanced...The papers contain...intriguing snippets of information about Soviet-Tanzanian relations. In one of the more interesting papers Vladimir Ovchinnikov, a Swahili scholar, pays tribute to Nyerere’s often overlooked contribution to the Swahili language.”: Tanzanian Affairs