CECIL RHODES

Cecil John Rhodes was a British businessman, founder of the De Beers diamond group, and politician known for having founded the southern African territory of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia).

He created the “Rhodes Scholarship”, the world’s first international study programme enabling students to study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes wanted to promote leadership, good character, commitment to service and to “render war impossible” by promoting friendship between leaders across various countries.

Since 1903, about 5,000 students received the scholarship from more than 50 countries, among them 8 Heads of States, 3 Nobel Prizes and 15 Pullitzer Prize winners. His legacy also inspired the creation of many other similar scholarships across the world.