1-148-818 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Cecil Rhodes, English-born South African entrepreneur and statesman, c1900. Portrayed in this painting riding on his estate, Groote Schuur, Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902) made his fortune in the Kimberley diamond mines, and formed De Beers Consolidated Mines in 1888. As Managing Director of the British South Africa Company, he administered a territory roughly equivalent to the modern nation of Zimbabwe (previously known as Rhodesia after Rhodes). Rhodes became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in 1890, but resigned in 1896 when his role in instigating the Jameson Raid into the Transvaal came to light In his will he left funds to found the Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford University for Germans and Americans.