So little done, so much to do.
Cecil John Rhodes Quotes
Showing all quotes
| Birth: | 5th July, 1853 |
| Death: | 26th March, 1902 |
| Nationality: | British |
| Profession: | Businessman, Politician |
About
Rhodes was born in 1853 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. A sickly, asthmatic adolescent, Cecil Rhodes was taken out of grammar school and sent to Natal, South Africa at the age of 17 because his family thought the hot climate would improve his health.
After a brief stay with the Surveyor-General of Natal, Dr. P.C. Sutherland, in Pietermaritzburg, Rhodes took an interest in agriculture. He joined his brother Herbert on his cotton farm in the Umkomazi valley in Natal. The land was unsuitable for cotton, and the venture failed. When he first came to Africa, Rhodes lived on money lent by his aunt Sophia. In October 1871, Rhodes and his brother Herbert left the colony for the diamond fields of Kimberley. Financed by N M Rothschild & Sons, over the next 17 years Rhodes succeeded in buying up all the smaller diamond mining operations in the Kimberley area. His monopoly of the world's diamond supply was sealed in 1889 through a strategic partnership with the London-based Diamond Syndicate. They agreed to control world supply to maintain high prices.
On 13 March 1888, Rhodes and Rudd launched the De Beers consolidated Mines ltd after the amalgamation of a number of individual claims. With £200,000 of capital, the company, of which Rhodes was secretary, owned the largest interest in the mine. From age 40 his heart condition returned with increasing severity until his death from heart failure in 1902, aged 48, at his seaside cottage in Muizenberg.
Related Authors
Advertisement
Today's Anniversary - 25th May
Share with your friends