The Historian Who Would Be Chief: A Biography of Simon Jilundu Chibanza III (1899 – 1974)

By recovering from obscurity the life story of an early Zambian historian, this paper makes a case for the adoption of a biographical approach to the study of Africa’s colonial history. It argues that Simon Jilundu Chibanza III’s trajectory provides valuable insights into the ambivalent social location and intricate motivations of the Zambian intelligentsia during colonial rule. An examination of his background and variegated career accounts for the complexity of his identity and the imprints which its multiple strands left upon his literary output and profound understanding of the politics of history-writing.