Alex Salmond, who died on Saturday aged 69, left a long-lasting footprint on British politics and the cause of Scottish independence.

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has died at 69, according to statements from Scotland’s main political parties and UK media reports.

Scottish former First Minister Alex Salmond has died. Salmond championed Scotland’s independence from the U.K.

Scottish political giant and former first minister Alex Salmond, hailed as the founder of the modern Scottish independence movement, has died at age 69, authorities announced Saturday.

Salmond was born, raised and educated in Scotland. It was while he was a student at St Andrews University that he joined the university branch of the Federation of Student Nationalists in December 1973. As one of only two fully paid-up members of the SNP at the university, he became the branch president.

Alex Salmond, who died on Saturday aged 69, was for years the figurehead of Scottish independence, a wily political operator who divided opinion as he took the nationalist movement from the political fringes to the mainstream.

Alex Salmond was a man and a politician of extreme contradictions. A one-time radical firebrand, he moved his party from the political margins and perpetual opposition to government and the mainstream of Scottish public life.