Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA

Date: 20 Aug 1919
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA

Helen Nontando (Noni) Jabavu was born in 1919 in the Eastern Cape into a literary family. From the age of thirteen, she was schooled in England, and continued to live there for many years. She went on to become one of the first African female writers and journalists. The Ochre People is one of her two autobiographical works; the other is Drawn in Colour (1960). Both were written early in her literary career and have been hailed by critics as being brilliant and fascinating. The works indicate that she preferred positioning herself as being simultaneously an African and a European, tracing her origins in both England and South Africa. In her books she looked at the alienation she felt, issues of identity and the impact of the West on Africa. Jabavu died on 19 June 2008 at the age of 88.

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01Makhosazana Xaba Noni Jabavu: a peripatetic writer ahead of her timesfrom Scielo South Africa [online] Available at: www.scielo.org.za[Accessed on 13 August 2012]
02South African History Online Helen Nontando (Noni) Jabavu[online] Available at: www.sahistory.org.za[Accessed on 13 August 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, August 16). Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091119

South African History Online (2012) 'Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA', South African History Online, 16 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091119 (Accessed: 22 August 2026).

South African History Online, Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091119, (accessed 22 August 2026).

"Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA." South African History Online, 16 Aug. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091119. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Helen Nontando Jabavu, author and periodical editor in London, is born in Middeldrift, SA." South African History Online. August 16, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091119.