The Embassy of Zimbabwe in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It is located in Zimbabwe House, a Grade II*

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

at 429

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline *Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa *Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street, ...

in central London. It was previously a High Commission and became an embassy after Zimbabwe's departure from the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

on 7 December 2003 in protest of international criticism of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

's regime's human rights record and its policies.

History

Architecture and sculptures

The building was designed by architect

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

in 1907–08 as the headquarters of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

and featured a series of sculptures by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

representing the development of science and the ''Ages of Man'', his first major commission in London. The nakedness of many of these sculptures was considered shocking by certain sections of the press, with the ''London Evening Standard'' newspaper launching an attack on the sculptures as soon as the protective hoardings were removed. The newspaper claimed, that Epstein had erected "a form of statuary which no careful father would wish his daughter, or no discriminating young man, his fiancée, to see". With the acquisition of the building by the Government of Southern Rhodesia in 1935 the battle over the statues continued as the Southern Rhodesian regime sought permission to have the sculptures removed. Despite claims that one of the heads of the sculptures fell onto a passer-by, thereby giving the Southern Rhodesians an excuse to mutilate the sculptures, there is no evidence that this is the case. Rather what seems to have happened is that a piece of one of the sculptures came away as bunting attached to them to celebrate the coronation of King George VI in 1936 was being removed. Epstein believed this was used by the Southern Rhodesians as an excuse to mutilate the statues on safety grounds. Despite protests, no independent survey was permitted and Epstein himself was refused permission to inspect the sculptures to see if they were as dangerous as claimed.

Rhodesian High Commission

As Rhodesia House it housed of the High Commission of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

from 1923 until the Rhodesian UDI on 11 November 1965. Rhodesia was unique in being the only

British colony The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

to have a High Commission, as only

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

s (and later, independent

members) were represented by such legations. During the period of the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

from 1953, Rhodesia House was home to the High Commissioner for the Federation. With the end of the Federation in 1963, Rhodesia House returned as home of the representative of Southern Rhodesia. After the UDI, Rhodesia's High Commissioner,

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Andrew Skeen General Sir Andrew Skeen, KCB, KCIE, CMG (20 January 1873 – 18 February 1935) served in the British Indian Army, rising to the position of Chief of the General Staff in India. Military career Skeen was commissioned into the King's Own Scot ...

departed on 12 November 1965 before being declared ''

persona non-grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

and ordered to leave the country. However, because of concerns over diplomatic property under

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, Rhodesia House was not seized by the British Government. It simply became a Representative Office with no official diplomatic status, until the country became

in 1980.

Zimbabwe

The embassy is frequently the focus of protests against the Zimbabwean government and the regime of President Robert Mugabe. The South African ''

Business Day A business day means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, or any day which is a legal holiday or any day on which banking institutions are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close. The definition of a business day ...

'' newspaper reported in 2002 that the deeds of the building had been given to the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

as surety for oil supplied to Zimbabwe by the Libyan state oil company

Tamoil Tamoil is the trading name of the Oilinvest Group, a fuel energy provider within the European downstream oil and gas sector. The Oilinvest Group refines crude oil and markets refined oil products primarily under the Tamoil and the HEM brands in ...

.The Zimbabwe Situation
17 August 2002.

Notes

References

External links

BBC On This Day
— *
Londonist.com

Image of building

Image of mutilated sculptures
{{Diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom History of Zimbabwe

Charles Holden buildings Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster United Kingdom–Zimbabwe relations Rhodesia–United Kingdom relations Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations Covent Garden