15 Facts About Eddison Zvobgo

Eddison Zvobgo was the ZANU-PF's spokesman at the Lancaster House in late 1979, a Harvard-educated lawyer, a poet, a guerrilla war strategist, a freedom fighter, a war veteran, a hotelier, and a national hero.

Eddison Zvobgo's name is often misspelled by the media, either as "Edson" instead of Eddison or "Zvogbo" instead of Zvobgo.

Eddison Zvobgo comes from the Karanga subgroup of the Shona people.

In 1960, Eddison Zvobgo won a scholarship to Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts aged 25.

Eddison Zvobgo was freed in 1971, and he spent a period in exile in Canada.

Eddison Zvobgo then studied law at Harvard University and International Relations at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, followed by a position as associate professor of criminal law at Lewis University College of Law in Illinois.

Eddison Zvobgo played a key role in international negotiations at Lancaster House that ended the bitter Rhodesian Bush War and led to British-sponsored all-race elections ahead of Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.

Eddison Zvobgo was the Zanu-PF spokesman, and impressed many in the international press with his quick repartee and astute analysis of the negotiations.

An influential member of Zimbabwe's first fully independent cabinet, Eddison Zvobgo was Minister of Local Government and Housing until 1982, and Minister of Justice until 1985.

In 1992, Eddison Zvobgo was moved to the less influential post of Minister of Mines.

In 1996, Eddison Zvobgo survived a car accident, in which both his legs were broken.

Eddison Zvobgo voiced his opposition to the sweeping media law, passed the same year, calling it "the most serious assault on our constitutional liberties since independence".

Eddison Zvobgo was accused of holding private talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as the ruling party abandoned formal dialogue between the two parties.

Eddison Zvobgo was declared a National Hero and buried at Zimbabwe's National Heroes' Acre.

Eddison Zvobgo was survived by his seven children, Kerina, Eddison, Tsungirirai, Jonas, Tendai, Esther and Farai Emily.