John Chilembwe Day (Malawi)

John Chilembwe Day is a public holiday in Malawi on January 15 yearly. The holiday commemorates the life of Reverend John Chilembwe, born in 1871 in Nyasaland, present in the Republic of Malawi. In 1892, he became a house servant of Joseph Booth, a radical and independent-minded missionary.

In 1897, Booth brought Chilembwe to the United States, where he was studied and affected by the radical American Negro ideas and the works of John Brown, Booker Washington, and Frederick Douglass. He founded several schools in the first several years after he returned to Nyasaland in 1900.

However, Chilembwe's church was situated in areas dominated by the estate of A. L. Bruce Estates. Bruce Estates did not allow the mission work or schools on their Estates and burned down Chilembwe's church.

Chilembwe and his followers attacked European estates, mostly the Bruce estates, and killed 3 white employees and 3 African men. After realizing that the uprising had failed to gain local support, he attempted to escape into Mozambique but was unsuccessful. On February 3, 1915, he was tracked down and killed.

The following is the list of John Chilembwe Day in Malawi from 2022 to 2026.

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