John Garang
| John Garang de Mabior | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Southern Sudan | |
|
In office 9 July 2005 – 30 July 2005 |
|
| Vice President | Salva Kiir Mayardit |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | Salva Kiir Mayardit |
| First Vice President of Sudan | |
|
In office 9 January 2005 – 30 July 2005 |
|
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Preceded by | Ali Osman Taha |
| Succeeded by | Salva Kiir Mayardit |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
23 June 1945 Wangulei village, Twic, Sudan (now South Sudan) |
| Died | 30 July 2005 (aged 60) New Cush, Sudan |
| Nationality | South Sudanese |
| Political party | Sudan People's Liberation Movement |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior |
| Alma mater |
Grinnell College (B.A.) Iowa State University (M.A.) Iowa State University (PhD) |
John Garang de Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan from July 9, 2005 until his death in a helicopter crash on July 30, 2005. A developmental economist by profession, Dr. Garang is widely considered the most influential person in the history of South Sudan.
A member of the Dinka ethnic group, Garang was born into a poor family in Wangulei village Twic East County in the upper Nile region of Sudan. An orphan by the age of ten, he had his fees for school paid by a relative, going to schools in Wau and then Rumbek. In 1962 he joined the first Sudanese civil war, but because he was so young, the leaders encouraged him and others his age to seek an education. Because of the ongoing fighting, Garang was forced to attend his secondary education in Tanzania. After winning a scholarship, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1969 from Grinnell College in Iowa, United States. He was known there for his bookishness. He was offered another scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, but chose to return to Tanzania and study East African agricultural economics as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). At UDSM, he was a member of the University Students' African Revolutionary Front. However, Garang soon decided to return to Sudan and join the rebels.. There is much erroneous reporting that Garang met and befriended Yoweri Museveni, future president of Uganda, at this time; while both Garang and Museveni were students at UDSM in the 1960s, they did not attend at the same time. In 1970, Garang was among one of the batches of Gordon Muortat Mayen's soldiers, the then leader of the Anyanya liberation movement, sent to Israel for military training.
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