Samkange, Stanlake John William Thompson (1922–1988)

Abstract

Stanlake John William Thompson Samkange, historian, novelist, and author of 17 books, was active in mid‐twentieth‐century Zimbabwean (Rhodesian) politics. Born in 1922 to socially progressive, politically active Christian parents, Stanlake was one of nine children (seven of whom survived beyond childhood). The children were Betty and Hilda, who died as infants, followed in order by Ernest, Stanlake, Norah, Evelyn, Don, Edgar, and Sketchley. Thompson Douglas Samkange (1893–1956) and his wife Grace Samkange (née Mano), part of an educated elite in colonial Zimbabwe, struggled economically to ensure that Stanlake and their other six children were well educated in both the Methodist and scholarly traditions.