Editing Jonas Savimbi (section)

==Early life==
{{more citations needed|section|date=February 2019}}
Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita Savimbi<ref name="Mayembe 2017">{{cite book|url=https://repositorio.ufmg.br/handle/1843/BUOS-AQQJ45 |title=Reforma educativa em Angola: a monodocência no ensino primário em Cabinda|author=Ndombele Mayembe|publisher=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais|date=2017}}</ref> was born in [[Munhango]], [[Bié Province]], a small town on the [[Benguela Railway]], and raised in Chilesso, in the same province. Savimbi's father, Lote, was a stationmaster on Angola's [[Benguela railway]] line and a preacher of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] ''Igreja Evangélica Congregacional de Angola'' (Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola), founded and maintained by American missionaries. Both his parents were members of the Bieno group of the [[Ovimbundu]], the people who later served as Savimbi's major political base.<ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{citation |title=Jonas Savimbi, 67, Rebel of Charisma and Tenacity |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D6103EF930A15751C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 |newspaper=The New York Times|first= Michael T. |last=Kaufman|date=23 February 2003}}.</ref><ref>For a careful reconstruction of Savimbi's trajectory, {{citation |last=Marcum |first=John |title=The Angolan Revolution |volume=I. Anatomy of an explosion (1950–1962) |publisher=MIT Press |location=London / Cambridge, MA |year=1969}}.</ref>

In his early years, Savimbi was educated mainly in Protestant schools, but also attended [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] schools. At the age of 24 he received a scholarship to study in [[Portugal]]. 

Instead he became associated with students from Angola and other Portuguese colonies who were preparing themselves for anti-colonial resistance and had contacts with the clandestine Portuguese Communist Party. He knew [[Agostinho Neto]], who was at that time studying medicine and who later became president of the MPLA and Angola's first state President. Under increasing pressure from the Portuguese [[secret police]] ([[PIDE]]), Savimbi left Portugal for [[Switzerland]] with the assistance of Portuguese and French communists and other sympathizers, and eventually wound up in [[Lausanne]]. There he was able to obtain a new scholarship from American missionaries and studied social sciences. He then went to the [[University of Fribourg]] for further studies.{{efn|1={{Harvnb | Bridgland | 1988 | pp = 421ff}} reproduces the legend that Savimbi started studying medicine in Portugal, and concluded these studies in Geneva. In fact, he never studied medicine, and obtained a degree in the social and political sciences, the nature of which was never established. However, as is customary in Portuguese-speaking countries, Savimbi was from then on addressed as "Dr".  While it was often assumed in other countries that Savimbi (like Agostinho Neto) held a doctoral degree, his degree was in fact roughly comparable to that of the European BA.}}

While there, probably in August 1960,{{Sfn | Chilcote | 1972 | p = 63}} he met [[Holden Roberto]], who was already a rising star in émigré circles. Roberto was a founding member of the UPA ([[ União das Populaçoes de Angola]]) and was already known for his efforts to promote Angolan independence at the [[United Nations]]. He tried to recruit Savimbi who seemed to have been undecided whether to commit himself to the cause of Angolan independence at that point in his life.

In late September 1960, Savimbi was asked to give a speech in Kampala, Uganda on behalf of the UDEAN (União Democrática dos Estudantes da Africa Negra), a student organization affiliated with the MPLA. At this meeting he met [[Tom Mboya]] who took him to Kenya to see [[Jomo Kenyatta]]. They both urged Savimbi to join the UPA. He told French interviewers "J'ai été convaincu par Kenyatta" ("I was convinced by Kenyatta").<ref>Loiseau & de Roux, p. 99.</ref>  He immediately wrote a letter to Roberto putting himself at his service, which was taken in person to New York by Mboya. Upon his return to Switzerland, Roberto telephoned him. They met in Léopoldville (Kinshasa) in December 1960, and left immediately for the United States. It was the first of many visits.

There are considerable differences in the source material about the date of Savimbi's official induction into the UPA. [[Fred Bridgland]], who wrote a much-cited biography of Savimbi, says that Savimbi was "inducted into the UPA" on 1 February 1961.{{sfn|Bridgland|1988|p=49}} Nonetheless, he may not have officially joined the UPA until late 1961.{{efn|1=In his statement of resignation from the FNLA, Savimbi says he joined "at the end of 1961".{{sfn|Chilcote|1972|p=157}} This corresponds with [[George Houser]]'s statement, perhaps taken from the same source, that Savimbi joined in "late 1961".{{sfn|Houser|1989|p=155}}}}

It certainly seems that Savimbi was not in the inner circle of UPA activists in early 1961. He took no part in planning the uprising of March 1961, nor did he participate in it.

Savimbi stayed in Léopoldville until the end of March 1961, then went to Switzerland to prepare for examinations. He may have failed, for he abandoned medical studies in Fribourg, and in December 1961 enrolled at [[Lausanne University]] in Law and International Politics.

By September 1961, Africans from the Portuguese colonies studying abroad formed the UGEAN (União Geral dos Estudantes da Africa Negra Sob Dominacão Colonial Portuguesa) at a meeting in [[Rabat]], Morocco. Again, this organization was affiliated with the MPLA.

Holden Roberto and the UPA wanted a student organization affiliated with their party. In December 1961, Roberto chaired a meeting at Camp Green Lane near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Savimbi attended this meeting and became one of a number of organizers who created the UNEA, (União Nacional dos Estudantes Angolanos) in March 1962 at Lucerne, Switzerland. Savimbi was elected Secretary-General.{{sfn|Paget|2015|p=264}}

Savimbi participated in UPA activities while continuing to study in Switzerland. He traveled widely on behalf of the organization: to Yugoslavia for the first [[Non-Aligned Movement Summit]] in September 1961, with Holden Roberto, and on to New York for the United Nations meeting later that fall.

In a very short time, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the UPA. It was he who encouraged the PDA (Partido Democrático de Angola) to join in a united front with the UPA, creating the FNLA  (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola) and when these parties formed the GRAE (Govêrno Revolucionário de Angola no Exílio) on April 3, 1962, Savimbi became Foreign Minister of this organization.

In 1993 he fathered [[Nazar (musician)|Nazar]], which was born in Belgium.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/dd074fb2-73ff-11ea-ad98-044200cb277f |title=Nazar revisits the Angolan civil war through kuduro music in Guerrilla |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |last=Hunter-Tilney |first=Ludovic |date=April 3, 2020 |access-date=June 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ravens |first=Chal |date=13 March 2020 |title=From bombs to beats: how Nazar summed up the sound of Angola |language=en-GB |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/13/from-bombs-to-beats-how-nazar-summed-up-the-sound-of-angola |access-date=22 June 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>