Tambo, Oliver (1917-1993), was a South African political leader. He led the African National Congress (ANC) in exile after it was banned in South Africa in 1960.
Oliver Reginald Tambo was born on Oct. 27, 1917, into a peasant family in Bizana, in Pondoland, Transkei, South Africa. Tambo graduated with a bachelor’s degree from South African Native College (now the University of Fort Hare) in 1941. In 1952, he set up a legal practice in partnership with Nelson Mandela. Tambo and Mandela were also founder members of the ANC Youth League in 1943. Tambo was elected to the ANC executive in 1949. He served as general secretary of the ANC from 1955 to 1958, and as deputy president general from 1958. After the ANC was banned in 1960, Tambo left South Africa. He returned from exile in 1990, and was leader of the ANC until Nelson Mandela was elected as president of the ANC in 1991. He died on April 24, 1993.
