SAHO global search

1841-1926

John Xavier Merriman

… in Somerset in England on March 15 1841. He moved with his family to the Cape Colony in South Africa in 1849, where his father became Bishop of Grahamstown…

B-0008546

1937-2015

Mohamed Ismail Dinat

… As a child, Dinat would often attend meetings with his Father, Ebrahim Dinat, who was a member of the Transvaal … .  Dinat’s involvement in banned political…

B-0120698

1925-2020

John Kgwana Nkadimeng

… shop steward in 1949. Following a strike in 1950, he lost his job. During the  1952 Defiance Campaing  he was arrested … National Congress (ANC) in 1950…

B-0068262

1924-1999

Natvarlal Dayalji “Natoo” Babenia

… and South Africa. In 1936, faced with economic hardship, his family returned to India which was engaged in its own … on the recommendation of M.D. Naidoo who…

B-0122927

1931-2000

Hendrik Jacobus (Kobie) Coetsee

… on 19 April 1931 in Ladybrand in the Orange Free State. His father, Johannes, was a printer, and had only one child … School in 1948 as Dux scholar and…

B-0007948

1876-1932

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje

… 1876 in the Boshof district of the Orange Free State. His parents were Christians who belonged to the … Barolong tribe. About the time he was born, his…

B-0008897

1947

Roelof Petrus (Roelf) Meyer

… on 16 July 1947, the son of Hudson and Hannah Meyer. His father was a farmer in the Humansdorp district in what is … at the Ficksburg High School, and he…

B-0008549

1923-1986

William “Bloke” Modisane

… up in Sophiatown, a multiracial suburb in Johannesburg. His father was murdered and sister died from malnutrition at a very young age. His mother resorted to…

B-0008589

1891

Captain Lancelot Andrew Ariba

… architecture in Leeds and at the RA Schools 11 London. His ideals were based on the notion of a symbiotic … Baker. As an artist he often chose subjects that…

B-0008046

1936

Lionel Davis

… between for committing acts of sabotage. It was during his prison years on Robben Island that he completed his Senior Certificate. After his release he was…

B-0007975

2016

Juda Ngwenya

… Juda Ngwenya began his career with The Star newspaper in Johannesburg, Transvaal … at The World and The Daily Mail, among other newspapers. His pictures have…

B-0123560

1840-1888

William Wellington Gqoba

… and in the history of Xhosa literature. During his final illness, Gqoba had a vision of Ntsikana and his congregation in bright clothing: 'While I did not…

B-0008918

1973

Shaun Maclean Pollock

… to Durban at the age of five. Born to a cricketing family, his father Peter and Uncle Graeme represented South Africa. … of Natal. Shaun Pollock's passion…

B-0008904

Rev. Joseph J Doke

… Baptist Church. He offered to resign from this position if his pro-Indian sympathies were unacceptable to his congregation. He and his wife nursed Gandhi…

B-0008014

1953

Fanie Jason

… work as a freelance photographer in 1975 to supplement his income as a bible salesman. Jason's photography career … Sunday Times, City Press  and  Tribute…

B-0008199

1934

Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emmanuel Bengu

… Bengu was born on 8th  of May in 1934 in Natal. He began his career as a teacher in 1952. His years of teaching culminated in the founding of Dlangezwa ……

B-0007851

1762-1834

Henry Bathurst

… of Parliament for Cirencester from 1783 until he succeeded his father as Earl in August 1794. Perhaps influenced by his friendship with William Pitt, Prime…

B-0007835

1943-2000

Mampe Mosia Makhaya

… Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Mauritania. Upon completing his term of office in Senegal, the president of Senegal, HE … after a short illness in Havana, Cuba. He…

B-0008399

1952-2003

Fikile Magadledla

… paint, pencil and mixed media. He also sculpted and while his earlier works were in terracotta and gas concrete, he … several books and wrote poetry to…

B-0008370

1892-1977

Moses Kottler

… in Joniskis, Lithuania. Sources differ as to the date of his birth – some give it as 1892, others as 1896. As a child, his parents moved to South Africa, but…

B-0008275

1709-1785

Georg Schmidt

… Saxony and started preparing to become an evangelist. On his first evangelistic mission in 1728, he was sent to … Catholic law in that country. In 1736, two…

B-0008995

1947-2013

Victor Mhleli Ntoni

… Western Province (now Western Cape) learning music from his mother, a locally recognised singer and his uncle, an aspirant piano player. He first learned…

B-0094749

1938

Ngugi wa Thiong’o

… schools before proceeding to Alliance High School. During his education the background was the Mau Mau war of … independence celebrations in 1962. wa Thiong…

B-0123171

1948

Patrick Holo

… with tin-wheels, held together with long wires were one of his favourites. Holo grew up in Cape Town, and completed … and continued to communicate the…

B-0008172

1928-2011

Henry Gordon ‘Squire’ Makgothi

… five. He attended Pimville Government School and completed his secondary school education at St Peters Secondary School … 5 December 1956, he was arrested on…

B-0064853

1886-1982

Henry Selby Msimang

… on 13 December 1886 in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg. He and his elder brother, Richard Msimang,were born to Joel Msimang and his wife Joanah Radebe. Joel…

B-0008695

1942

Zweledinga Pallo Jordan

… 1942 in B Location, Kroonstad, in the Orange Free State. His father, Dr Archibald Campbell Jordan, was an African novelist, linguist and academic and his…

B-0008215

1952

Popo Molefe

… He was one of eight children, and spent most of his youth living with his aunt. His mother was a domestic worker and his father a labourer, …

B-0008620

1921-2007

Arthur David Bensusan

… interest in photography at an early age. He completed his medical degree at Wits after the war, graduating in 1950, … at Witwatersrand Medical School and was…

B-0096200

1962

Chris Kirchhoff

… Born in 1962 in Johannesburg, Kirchhoff spend his early years in Norway and Massachusetts before returning to Johannesburg to complete his schooling.  He…

B-0008261