Father of the Nation

Father of the Nation is a term used by many countries to describe a
political or symbolic leader who was one of the most influential founding
fathers of the nation. He may also be a key figure from the nation's history
whose perceived heroism and moral authority made him in the public's eyes
worthy of respect, indeed often veneration. The Father of the Nation is
almost always a highly respected national figure and a source of patriotic
inspiration. His image is commonly featured on banknotes, stamps, and other
national memorabilia.

While many states have held a 'father of the nation' in continuing high
respect since their founding, others have adopted and then abandoned some
numerous figures throughout their history. Josef Stalin was seen by millions
during his period of control in the Soviet Union as the national
father-figure, an image augmented deliberately by images released of him in
the pose of a father or grandfather patting children on their head. Such was
his esteem that a wave of suicides was recorded when his death was
announced, with people suggesting that life without Stalin to guide them was
unthinkable. Within a few years however, when his successors revealed the
truth about Stalin's reign of terror, his popularity plummeted and his body
was removed from the mausoleum where it had been laid alongside Lenin.

In Ireland, though he remained a controversial figure, to the majority of
the electorate and the supporters of the state's biggest political party
(whom he founded and led for 33 years) Eamon de Valera was seen as the
father of the nation up to his death in 1975. However in the 1980s, 1990s
and 2000s his reputation too underwent a re-evaluation, with the public
moving away from their unfettered enthusiasm for 'deV' and his achievements
and instead focusing interest on leaders like Michael Collins whom de Valera
in his lifetime had tried to sideline.

Sun Yat-sen is regarded the Guofu (??) in the Republic of China (now on
Taiwan).

The deposed King Mohammed Zahir Shah has been called "Father of the Nation"
of Afghanistan by current President Hamid Karzai,in some sense a compromise
with those wishing to restore the monarchy;and a 2003 draft constitution in
fact explicitly awards this title to Zahir Shah.

Countries and their national "father(s)":

   * Afghanistan: Mohammed Zahir Shah
   * Albania: Enver Hoxha
   * Algeria: Ahmed Ben Bella
   * Angola: Agostinho Neto
   * Antigua and Barbuda: Vere Cornwall Bird
   * Argentina: JosŽ de San Mart’n
   * Armenia: Levon Ter-Petrosyan
   * Azerbaijan: Heydar Aliyev
   * The Bahamas: Lynden Pindling
   * Bahrain: Sheikh Isa ibn Sulman al-Khalifah
   * Bangladesh: Mujibur Rahman
   * Belize: George Cadle Price
   * Benin: Hubert Maga
   * Bosnia and Herzegovina: Alija Izetbegovic
   * Botswana: Seretse Khama
   * Burma: U Nu
   * Burundi: Melchior Ndadaye
   * Cambodia: Norodom Sihanouk
   * Cameroon: Ahmadou Ahidjo
   * Canada: John A. MacDonald (see also the Fathers of Confederation)
   * Cape Verde: Aristides Pereira
   * Central African Republic: David Dacko
   * Chad: Ngarta Tombalbaye
   * Chile: Bernardo O'Higgins
   * Republic of China: Sun Yat-sen
   * People's Republic of China: Mao Tse-Tung
   * Congo-Kinshasa: Patrice Lumumba
   * Cote d'Ivoire: FŽlix Houphouet-Boigny
   * Czech Republic: Vaclav Havel
   * Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
   * East Timor: Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta
   * Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser
   * Equatorial Guinea: Francisco Mac’as Nguema
   * Eritrea: Isaias Afewerki
   * Gabon: LŽon M'ba
   * The Gambia: Dawda Jawara
   * Georgia: Eduard Shevardnadze
   * Germany: Helmut Kohl (reunification)
   * Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah
   * Gibraltar: Joshua Hassan (self-government)
   * Guinea: SŽkou TourŽ
   * Guyana: Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan
   * India: Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru
   * Indonesia: Sukarno
   * Iran: Ayatollah Khomeini (Islamic state)
   * Ireland: Eamon de Valera (until the 1970s)
   * Israel: David Ben-Gurion
   * Jamaica: Norman Manley and Michael Manley
   * Jordan: King Hussein
   * Kazakhstan: Nursultan Nazarbayev
   * Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta
   * Kiribati: Ieremia Tabai
   * Kyrgyzstan: Askar Akayev
   * Lesotho: Moshoeshoe
   * Liberia: William Tubman
   * Libya: King Idris I
   * Madagascar: Philibert Tsiranana
   * Malawi: Kamuzu Banda
   * Mali: Modibo Keita
   * Mauritania: Moktar Ould Daddah
   * Mauritius: Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
   * Mozambique: Samora Machel
   * Namibia: Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and Sam Nujoma
   * Nauru: Hammer DeRoburt
   * Netherlands: Willem I of Orange
   * North Korea: Kim Il Sung
   * Oman: Qaboos
   * Pakistan: Mohammed Ali Jinnah
   * Palau: Haruo Remeliik and Thomas Remengesau, Sr.
   * Palestine: Yasir Arafat
   * Papua New Guinea: Michael Somare
   * Pitcairn Islands: Fletcher Christian
   * Republic of Texas: Stephen F. Austin
   * Saint Kitts and Nevis: Robert Bradshaw
   * Saint Lucia: John Compton
   * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Milton Cato
   * San Marino: Marinus (according to tradition)
   * Sao Tome and Principe: Manuel Pinto da Costa
   * Senegal: Leopold Sedar Senghor
   * Seychelles: James Mancham and France Albert RenŽ
   * Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew
   * South Africa: Nelson Mandela
   * Soviet Union: Vladimir Lenin
   * Spain: King Juan Carlos
   * Swaziland: Sobhuza
   * Syria: Hafez Assad
   * Tanzania: Julius Nyerere
   * Tonga: Salote Tupou III
   * Trinidad and Tobago: Eric Williams
   * Tunisia: Habib Bourguiba
   * Turkey: Kemal Atatźrk
   * Turkmenistan: Saparmurat Niyazov
   * Tuvalu: Toaripi Lauti
   * Uganda: Milton Obote
   * United Arab Emirates: Zayed
   * United States: George Washington
   * Uzbekistan: Islam Karimov
   * Vanuatu: Walter Lini
   * Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh
   * Venezuela: Sim—n Bol’var
   * Yugoslavia: Josip Broz Tito
   * Zambia: Kenneth Kaunda
   * Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo

Some of the above "paternities" are matters of political contention in their
respective countries, while others are widely accepted on a non-partisan
basis. Contentions are especially a problem in newly independent countries,
such as the nations of Africa. For example, the Shona of Zimbabwe are more
likely to call Robert Mugabe the "Father of the Nation" (if that term is
used); the people of Matabeleland and elsewhere are more likely to think of
Joshua Nkomo or other figures as "parents" because of Mugabe's historical
oppression of those regions.

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