Alexander Livingstone Bruce

Alexander Livingstone Bruce (24 October 1881 – 12 February 1954) was a Scottish businessman, investor, military officer, and colonial administrator in Southern Africa.

Bruce was a director and major shareholder of A L Bruce Estates Ltd, one of the largest property owning companies in colonial Nyasaland. After the death of his elder brother in 1915, Alexander Livingstone Bruce had sole control of the company's holdings. Bruce's harsh and exploitative management style is considered to have been a major factor in the outbreak of John Chilembwe's uprising against British rule in 1915, for which Bruce has since been the subject of severe criticism. During the uprising, three of Bruce's European employees were killed and one of them, William Jervis Livingstone was held partly to blame for the revolt. Although Livingstone was carrying out Bruce's orders, Bruce, as a leading landowner and member of the governor's Legislative Council, escaped censure. Despite Bruce's ruthless pursuit of profits, A L Bruce Estates was ultimately unprofitable, but was saved from insolvency in 1949 by the colonial government, which needed its land for resettlement following a famine. Shortly before his death in 1954, Bruce was able to sell the company's Nyasaland estates, repay its debts and realise a surplus.

Bruce's legacy remains highly controversial due to his direct involvement in the European colonization of Africa, from which he derived substantial benefit throughout his career. Indeed, Bruce's racist attitude towards and exploitation of his native workforce was criticised even in his own time.