Idi Amin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Idi Amin
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| 3rd President of Uganda | |
| In office 25 January 1971 – 11 April 1979 |
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| Vice President | Mustafa Adrisi |
| Preceded by | Milton Obote |
| Succeeded by | Yusufu Lule |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Idi Amin Dada
August 17, 1925 Koboko, Uganda |
| Died | August 16, 2003 (aged 77) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Spouse(s) | Malyamu Amin (divorced) Kay Amin (divorced) Nora Amin (divorced) Madina Amin (widow) Sarah Amin (widow) |
| Profession | Soldier Boxer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom Uganda |
| Branch/service | British Army Ugandan Army |
| Years of service | 1946–1962 (UK) 1962–1979 (Uganda) |
| Rank | Lieutenant (UK) Field Marshal (Uganda, self-styled) |
| Unit | King's African Rifles |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces |
| Battles/wars | Mau Mau Uprising 1971 Ugandan coup d'état Uganda-Tanzania War |
Idi Amin Dada (17 August 1925 – 16 August 2003) was a repressive dictator of the African country of Uganda. The President of Tanzania at the time, Julius Nyerere, invaded Uganda to save the country from Amin.
Amin was famous for sending all Asians, mainly from India and Pakistan, out of Uganda. He threw them out because he believed they were taking the jobs of Ugandans. Many of the Asians that left Uganda came back after Amin was thrown out.
He was a convert to Islam. He supported the cause of Palestine freedom. This caused the hijacking of an Air France flight that landed in Entebbe, Uganda.
Amin became known as a very brutal leader and in the 1970s he was compared to historical persons such as Caligula, Hitler, Beria and Himmler. In several of the neighboring countries he was stamped as "murderer, fascist and oppressor."
In 2003, Amin died in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia from kidney failure at age 77. He lived in Saudi Arabia after being thrown out of Uganda, he was barred from ever returning since he left. He died one day before his 78th birthday.
He was put on life support on July 18, but when his organs began to fail, life support mechanism was disconnected by his family. He was buried without any memorial in a simple grave without headstone.
The Last King of Scotland (2006) is a movie about Amin's government. Forest Whitaker won an Academy Award for best actor.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Amin (centre-left) as chief of staff during a visit of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol (centre) in 1966
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Milton Obote, Uganda's second president, whom Amin overthrew in a coup d'état in 1971
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Remnants of Amin's palace near Lake Victoria
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A 1977 caricature of Amin in military and presidential attire by Edmund S. Valtman
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