END OF THE RHODES
Cecil Rhodes statue: Who was he and what did he do?
GOVERNORS at the University of Oxford have voted to remove the controversial Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College.
The decision to remove the infamous statue of Rhodes comes following protests over his links to Britain's colonial past as part of the wider Black Lives Matter movement.
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Who was Cecil Rhodes?
Cecil Rhodes was a 19th century mining magnate who helped Victorian Britain colonise much of Southern Africa and held opinions that now offend modern values.
Rhodes was one of the era's most famous imperialists, with Rhodesia - now Zimbabwe - and Zambia named after him.
Born in Bishop's Stortford in 1853, he was a sickly child before heading to Africa aged 17.
He grew cotton before moving into diamond mining, founding the De Beers firm.
As Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896, his government restricted the rights of black Africans by setting financial qualifications for voting.
He attended Oriel College in 1873. On his death in 1902 the Rhodes Scholarship was set up to help non-British students study at Oxford.
Rhodes Scholars include Bill Clinton and three former Australian PMs.
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Where is the Cecil Rhodes statue and what other memorials are there?
The focus of attention is on the statue which is above the entrance to Oriel College, part of Oxford University.
The Rhodes Memorial Museum was established in his home town of Bishops Stortford in 1938 but has since changed its name to the Bishops Stortford Museum.
The town also has an Arts Centre and road named after him.
A protest group called Stortford Against Rhodes has been set up to rename both. It currently has more than 1,500 signatures.
The cottage in Muizenberg where he died is a provincial heritage site in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
A Rhodes Memorial stands on what is said to have been his favourite spot on Devil’s Peak in Cape Town.
Rhodes University College, now Rhodes University, is in Grahamstown, which was set up in his name by trustees.
A bronze statue of Rhodes sitting on his horse stands in Kimberley, Northern Cape, which was erected in 1907.
Why is Cecil Rhodes a controversial figure?
The statue marking the life of Cecil Rhodes has long been a contentious issue.
As an imperialist and colonist, the legacy of Rhodes has come under intense scrutiny in recent years.
He believed the English were the "first race in the world" and worked hard to extend British influence worldwide, saying: "The more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race".
Campaigners say Rhodes was a white supremacist.
A previous campaign to have the statue removed in 2016 was rejected.
The Rhodes Must Fall Oxford campaign group previously called for the image of the controversial mining magnate and empire builder to be removed from Oriel College, arguing the university has "failed to address its institutional racism".
Demonstrators have protested in front of the Rhodes statue on the High Street in Oxford as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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An open letter from campaigners to the university's vice-chancellor claims the institution has only made "inconsequential inroads" into tackling the material legacy of imperialism, adding it "is not enough".
Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said, while she did not endorse "vigilante action", the statue "must come down".
She said: "The statues of white supremacists and slave merchants should not still be standing in our cities.
"That's why the statue of Cecil Rhodes must come down.
"I'm not endorsing vigilante action - but I would urge Oriel College in the strongest terms to think about what message this statue sends in 2020, and to remove it."
However, following protests the college said it had recommended to take down the statue and added that consultations will now take place into the issue and Rhodes' legacy.
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How did Cecil Rhodes die?
Rhodes suffered ill health throughout his relatively short life.
His heart condition returned when he was 40 with increasing severity until his death from heart failure in 1902, aged 48, at his seaside cottage in Muizenberg.
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To mark his death the South African government organised a train to travel from the Cape to Rhodesia with it stopping at every station so mourners could pay their respect.
He was eventually buried at World’s View, a hilltop some 22 miles from Bulawayo in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
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