myzimbabweonline
Sign inJoin
All ZimbabweChange location

Zimbabwe Hall of Fame

The people who shaped Zimbabwe — what they did, and why they are remembered here. Every entry carries the sources it was written from.

Everyone here earned a place. The four levels say how far the reach went — from a contribution worth recording, up to a life without which the country’s story does not hold together. It is an editorial judgement, not an official ranking, and it is not fixed: people move up as achievements accumulate, and a placement can be reconsidered. Tell us who is missing.

Arrange by Level Profession

Peerless

Changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks.

Statecraft & Independence

Joshua Nkomo 1917 – 1999

Founder of ZAPU and Father Zimbabwe

Peerless

Literature & Ideas

Doris Lessing 1919 – 2013

Nobel Prize in Literature, 2007

Peerless

Landmark

A first, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country.

Statecraft & Independence

Joice Mujuru born 1955

Guerrilla fighter at sixteen, cabinet minister at twenty-five, vice-president at forty-nine

Landmark

Literature & Ideas

Charles Mungoshi 1947 – 2019

Twice a PEN International award winner, writing in Shona and English

Landmark
Dambudzo Marechera 1952 – 1987

The House of Hunger, and the Guardian Fiction Prize

Landmark
Yvonne Vera 1964 – 2005

Novelist of the silences in Zimbabwe's history

Landmark

Art, Design & Fashion

Joseph Ndandarika 1940 – 1991

One of the founders of Zimbabwean stone sculpture

Landmark
Nicholas Mukomberanwa 1940 – 2002

The most distinctive of Zimbabwe's stone sculptors

Landmark

Music

Thomas Mapfumo born 1945

The Lion of Zimbabwe, and the inventor of chimurenga music

Landmark
Alick Macheso born 1968

Simbaradzo, the best-selling album in Zimbabwean history

Landmark
Leonard Dembo 1959 – 1996

Chitekete, and the mastery of sungura

Landmark
Simon Chimbetu 1955 – 2005

The father of dendera music

Landmark
Stella Chiweshe 1946 – 2023

The mbira queen, who learned an instrument women were not permitted to play

Landmark

Media & Journalism

Trevor Ncube born 1962

Publisher who kept an independent press alive under Mugabe

Landmark

Sport

Nick Price born 1957

Three major championships and world number one

Landmark
Henry Olonga born 1976

Zimbabwe's first Black cricketer, and the black armband protest

Landmark

Business & Enterprise

Strive Masiyiwa born 1961

Founded Econet after a five-year court fight with the state

Landmark

Distinguished

Sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home.

Statecraft & Independence

Oppah Muchinguri born 1958

Zimbabwe's Minister of Defence

Distinguished

Literature & Ideas

Tsitsi Dangarembga born 1959

Author of Nervous Conditions

Distinguished

Art, Design & Fashion

Dominic Benhura born 1968

Self-taught sculptor, national prize-winner at eighteen

Distinguished

Music

Oliver Mtukudzi 1952 – 2019

Tuku — Zimbabwe's most loved musician

Distinguished
Jah Prayzah

The most played musician in Zimbabwe

Distinguished
Winky D

Dancehall Igwe, and the voice of Zimbabwean dancehall

Distinguished
The Bhundu Boys

Jit, and the band that carried Zimbabwe to British audiences

Distinguished

Sport

Kirsty Coventry born 1983

Zimbabwe's most decorated Olympian

Distinguished
Andy Flower born 1968

Zimbabwe's finest batsman, later a championship-winning coach

Distinguished

Know someone who belongs here?

This is an editorial selection, and it is certainly incomplete. Tell us who is missing from Zimbabwe and why — an editor reads every suggestion.

This is an editorial selection, not an official register. If you think someone is missing or something is wrong, let us know.