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Quick Facts
- NAME: Idi Amin
- OCCUPATION: Military Leader, World Leader
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1925
- DEATH DATE: August 16, 2003
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Koboko, Uganda
- PLACE OF DEATH: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Originally: Idi Amin Dada
Best Known For
Idi Amin was a Ugandan president best known for his brutal regime and crimes against humanity while in power from 1971-1979.
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Idi Amin - Mini Biography (3:36)
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Idi Amin - Mini Biography
Idi Amin joined the King's African Rifles in 1946 and soon developed a bad reputation for his treatment of detainees. He staged a military coup in 1971. As President of Uganda, his brutality made many consider him the "Butcher of Uganda."
Muammar al-Qaddafi - Mini Biography
Muammar al-Qaddafi rose through the ranks of the military and seized control of Libya in 1969. He demonstrated eccentric behavior and an oppressive ruling style until he was overthrown and killed in a revolution.
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Play NowIdi Amin Dada. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 03:56, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487.
Idi Amin Dada. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Idi Amin Dada." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 03:56 http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487.
"Idi Amin Dada," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Idi Amin Dada," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Idi Amin Dada [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487.
Idi Amin Dada, http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Idi Amin Dada. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/idi-amin-9183487. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Idi Amin was a Ugandan president born circa 1925 in Kokobo, West Nile Province, Uganda. He rose within the military from the 1940s through 1970. Amin overthrew the current leader in 1971 and declared himself president, and he remained in power from 1971-1979. During his tenure, he lived a lavish lifestyle while contributing to the collapse of Uganda’s economy. He sought to stay in power at all costs, resulting in extensive human rights violations via mass killings. Overthrown in 1979,
Quotes
"I am the hero of Africa."
he fled to Libya then Saudi Arabia where he died on August 16, 2003.
Early Years
A member of the small Kakwa ethnic group of northwestern Uganda, Idi Amin's birth date is unconfirmed, but estimated to have been in 1925. His mother, an herbalist and diviner, raised him after his father deserted the family. Amin had little formal education before joining the King's African Rifles of the British colonial army in 1946 as an assistant cook.
Military Service
Extremely charismatic and skilled, Amin quickly rose through the ranks. His stature was rather notable. He stood six feet, four inches tall and was a Ugandan boxing champion from 1951 to 1960, as well as a swimmer. He soon became notorious among fellow soldiers for his overzealous and cruel military interrogations. Eventually he made the highest rank possible for a Black African serving in the British Army. From 1952 until 1956, he served in the Allied forces' Burma campaign during World War II, and in the British action against the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya (1952–56).
Before Uganda's independence in 1962, Amin became closely associated with the new nation's prime minister and president, Milton Obote. The two men worked to smuggle gold, coffee and ivory out of Congo, but conflicts soon arose between them, and on January 25, 1971, while Obote was attending a meeting in Singapore, Amin staged a successful military coup. Amin became president and chief of the armed forces in 1971, field marshal in 1975 and life president in 1976.
Rise to Power
Amin began his rule with popular actions, including freeing several political prisoners. Simultaneously, however, he sent out “killer squads” to hunt down and murder Obote's supporters, predominantly those from the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups, military personnel and civilians. His victims soon came to include people from every order and rank, including journalists, lawyers, homosexuals, students and senior bureaucrats. He expelled all Asians from Uganda in 1972, an action that led to the breakdown of his country's economy.
Amin became known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality. It is believed that some 300,000 people were killed during his presidency. In July 1976 he was personally involved in the hijacking of a French airliner to Entebbe. In October 1978 Amin ordered an attack on Tanzania. Aided by Ugandan nationalists, Tanzanian troops eventually overpowered the Ugandan army. As the Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala, Uganda's capital, on April 13, 1979, Amin fled the city. Escaping first to Libya, he finally settled in Saudi Arabia.
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View groupRuthless, corrupt and crazy. Many of the world's dicators started out as charismatic young leaders, with a large measure of support from their countrymen—only to become bloated with power and abandon the principles they had pledged to uphold. These leaders held on to power by rigidly enforcing control, intimidating opposition and instilling fear among citizens. With access to unlimited power and riches, many developed secretive personal lives and bizarre habits. These dictators terrorized their people, and mesmerized the world, with their bizarre sayings, styles, and actions. Biography.com takes a look at some of the world's most erratic, and autocratic, leaders.
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