Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985.
Born in Tanganyika to Nyerere Burito (1860–1942), Chief of the Zanaki, Nyerere was known by the Swahili name Mwalimu or 'teacher', his profession prior to politics. He was also referred to as Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation). Nyerere received his higher education at Makerere University in Kampala and the University of Edinburgh. On returning to Tanganyika he worked as a teacher. In 1954 he helped form the Tanganyika African National Union.
In 1961 Nyerere became the first Prime Minister of Tanganyika and following independence in 1962, the country's first President. In 1964, Tanganyika united with Zanzibar and was then renamed as Tanzania. In 1965, a one-party election returned Nyerere to power and two years later he issued the Arusha Declaration, outlining his socialist concept of Ujamaa, which came to dominate his policies.
Nyerere retired in 1985 and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi but remained the chairman of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi. He died of leukaemia in London in 1999.