The Most Famous
SOCIAL ACTIVISTS from Uganda
This page contains a list of the greatest Ugandan Social Activists. The pantheon dataset contains 840 Social Activists, 1 of which were born in Uganda. This makes Uganda the birth place of the 97th most number of Social Activists behind Iceland, and Palestine.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ugandan Social Activists of all time. This list of famous Ugandan Social Activists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. David Kato (1964 - 2011)
With an HPI of 37.67, David Kato is the most famous Ugandan Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.
David Kato Kisule (c. 1964 – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Kato was assassinated at his home in January 26, 2011, shortly after winning a lawsuit against a magazine which had published his name and photograph identifying him as gay and calling for him to be executed.
2. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 28.41, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is the 2nd most famous Ugandan Social Activist. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (born 8 January 1970) is a Ugandan veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health, an organisation dedicated to the coexistence of endangered mountain gorillas, other wildlife, humans, and livestock in Africa. Kalema-Zikusoka was Uganda's first wildlife veterinary officer and was the star of the BBC documentary, Gladys the African Vet. In 2009 she won the Whitley Gold Award for her conservation work. In December 2021 she was proclaimed a United Nations Environment Programme's Champion of the Earth for Science and Innovation for her work with the One Health initiative.
3. Leah Namugerwa (b. 2004)
With an HPI of 15.59, Leah Namugerwa is the 3rd most famous Ugandan Social Activist. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Leah Namugerwa (born 2004) is a youth climate activist in Uganda. She is known for leading tree planting campaigns and for starting a petition to enforce the plastic bag ban in Uganda. Following inspiration from Greta Thunberg, she began supporting school strikes in February 2019 with fellow Fridays for the Future Uganda organizer Sadrach Nirere. Namugerwa spoke at the World Urban Forum in 2020 and was a youth delegate at COP25. Her uncle, Tim Mugerwa, is also a prominent environmentalist in Uganda. Leah Namugerwa's is a member of the Anglican Church of Uganda.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Ugandan social activists born between 1964 and 2004. Of these 3, 2 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ugandan social activists include Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, and Leah Namugerwa. The most famous deceased Ugandan social activists include David Kato. As of April 2024, 2 new Ugandan social activists have been added to Pantheon including Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, and Leah Namugerwa.
