Who's Who
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| Katjavivi, Peter Hitjitevi - Diplomat | ||||
 Peter Katjavivi has been Swapo’s foremost documenter of the liberation struggle. His book, ‘A History of Resistance in Namibia’ (James Currey, 1988) is still widely referred to in academic works on recent Namibian history. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia until given a diplomatic posting in Brussels in late 2003. The move into the diplomatic world returned him to his roots. He had opened Swapo’s first Western European office in London in 1968.Katjavivi travelled into exile in the early 1960s and was part of the Dar es Salaam ‘club’ of exiles that helped transform Swapo into an international force. Until 1979 he was a fulltime Swapo activist, running the London office and holding the movement’s Information and Publicity post. Academic commitments dominated the 1980s. Katjavivi holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from St. Anthony's College, University of Oxford. He received an MA degree from the University of Warwick, UK. In 1989 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly and served as National Assembly member until 1991. In 1992 he was named as the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia (Unam), a post he held for eleven years. He was appointed as Professor of History by the Unam Academic Staff Appointments Committee in 1994. Katjavivi played an instrumental role in the transformation of the former Academy into the new University of Namibia, although his running of Unam was criticised by a commission of inquiry in 1993. From 1993-1997, Katjavivi was a member of the Executive Board of Unesco. He has served as the Chairperson of the National Monuments Council of Namibia and the Board of Trustees of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru). In 1996 he was awarded the Officer of the Order of Palmes Academiques by the Republic of France. Katjavivi was appointed as Namibia’s Ambassador to Germany in 2006. |
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| Personal: | ||||
| Born on May 12 1941 at Okahandja in the Otjozondjupa region. | ||||
| Education: | ||||
| DPhil, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK (1986). MA, Political Sociology, University of Warwick, UK (1980). Extra-mural studies in History, Law and Politics, University of Dar es Salaam (1966-67). | ||||
| Career: | ||||
| Ambassador to Germany since 2006. Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union (2003-2006). Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia (1992-2003). Special Advisor on High Education to Government (1990-92). Member of the National Assembly (1990-91). Member of Constituent Assembly (1989-90). Founding Director of Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru) (1990-91). Director of Swapo Research Unit (1989-91). Visiting fellow, Southern African Research Programme, Yale University, USA (1988-89). Director of a pilot study on Namibian history at University of Joensuu, Finland (1986-87). Director of Colin Winter Centre of Namibia, Oxford, UK (1986). Swapo Secretary for Information and Publicity (1976-79). Swapo Secretary for Legal and Economic Affairs (1969-76). Swapo Representative for the UK and Western Europe (1968-76). Swapo Deputy Representative in Tanzania (1966-68). | ||||
| Contact: | ||||
| Embassy of the Republic of Namibia, Wichmannstrasse 5, 2nd Floor, 10787 Berlin, Germany; tel: 49-30-254-0950; fax: 49-30-254-09555. | ||||
