Godfrey Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern

Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern

Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern CH , KCMG , PC (born July 6, 1883 in Bexley , Great Britain , † May 8, 1971 in Salisbury, Rhodesia , today Harare , Zimbabwe ) was a Rhodesian doctor and politician.

After attending Malvern College , studying medicine and training as a surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital in London , Huggins went to Salisbury from 1911 to 1914 .

After the end of the First World War , during which he was stationed in Malta , England and France , he finally returned to Southern Rhodesia . Huggins bought a farm near Salisbury. He practiced as a surgeon again. In 1921 he married Blanche Slatter, with whom he had two sons.

At the time of the referendum on the union with South Africa in 1922, Huggins spoke out in favor of the union, which then did not materialize. In 1923 he was elected to the Legislative Council of the newly created colony of Southern Rhodesia for the constituency of Salisbury-North. In the 1933 elections, the Reform Party emerged victorious and Huggins became Prime Minister. Huggins also won the following elections and was elected by King George VI in 1941 . as Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George to hit Knight .

The foundation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland in 1953 goes back to his political work . The federation comprised Northern Rhodesia , Southern Rhodesia and Nyassaland . Huggins remained in office until 1956. Shortly before his retirement in 1955, he was promoted to Viscount Malvern , of Rhodesia and of Bexley in the County of Kent, and thereby received a seat in the British House of Lords . After 23 years of service, he was the longest serving Prime Minister in Commonwealth history .

literature

• R. Kent Rasmussen (Ed.): Historical Dictionary of Rhodesia / Zimbabwe (= African Historical Dictionaries. Volume 18). 1st edition. Scarecrow Press, Metuchen / London 1979, ISBN 0-8108-1187-1 .
• Peter Bridger, Mary Akers, David Yates, Felicity Wood (Eds.): Encyclopaedia Rhodesia. College Press, Salisbury 1973.

Web links

• Newspaper article about Godfrey Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern in the press kit 20th Century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Viscount Malvern 1955-1971	John Godfrey Huggins