SAHO global search

1917-1993

Oliver Tambo

… (more popularly known as Oliver Tambo or OR) was born in the village of Kantilla, Bizana, in the Mpondoland (eQawukeni), region of the Eastern Cape, on 27 ……

B-0009119

1915-1974

Michael Alan Harmel

… Michael Alan Harmel was born on 7th of February in 1915 in Johannesburg ,to Irish immigrant … opposed to racism while studying at Rhodes University in the…

B-0008142

1928-2023

Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi

… Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, son of Princess Magogo Constance Zulu kaDinuzulu, King Solomon’s sister, and Inkosi Mathole Buthelezi, the King’s Prime…

B-0007905

1905-1994

Advocate Israel “Isie” Aaron Maisels

… had come to South Africa with his siblings and parents in the 1890s from Pokroy, a small village in Lithuania and his … and received his undergraduate and…

B-0008386

1918-2000

Ismail Chota Meer

… Chota Meer (known as IC) was born September 5, 1918 in the small town of Waschbank in Northern Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). His … from Sastri College in 1939…

B-0008538

1815-1892

King Sarhili kaHintsa

… King Sarhili was the last King to rule over Xhosaland before it was fragmented by the consequences of the ‘Cattle Killing Movement’ of 1856-7. The movement…

B-0123686

1903-1956

Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo

… was born in Edendale, Natal on February 26th, 1903. He was the second son to Ezra and Sardinia Dhlomo. Ezra came from a line of ancestors connected to a…

B-0084446

1908-1982

Ellen Phyllis Hellman

… in Johannesburg , South Africa on August 25, 1908. She was the daughter of Bernard Kaumheimer, who emigrated to South Africa from … Theilheimer. Hellman was…

B-0008151

1925-1985

Alex la Guma

… Alex la Guma is known as one of South Africa’s foremost activist writers, both for his reportage and fiction writing depicting the oppressive measures of…

B-0008291

Richard Goldstone

… Goldstone was born on 26 October 1938 and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand where he obtained a BA LLB degree with …

B-0008109

1918-2013

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

… Childhood in the Eastern Cape Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the son of Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Henry Mgadla Mandela, a chief and … Higher than Hope. Madiba…

B-0065300

1898-1969

Nana Sita

… Please note: this is an extract from E.S. Reddy collection of articles. Nana Sita was born in Matwadi, a village in … Gujarat, India, in 1898, in a family…

B-0009073

1945

Graça Simbine Machel

… Machel was born on 17 October 1945, in Gaza, Mozambique , the last in a family of six children. Her father, a Methodist minister who had … in 1968, to major…

B-0008357

1931-1998

Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe

… Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe was born on the 31st of December 1931 near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal . Her mother, Leeya Basolise Nyembe was the daughter of…

B-0008843

Poonoosamy Ruthnam Pather

… in that country after emigrating from Tanjore in India in the 1840s. PR's father was born in Mauritius and his mother … and brother, PA Pather immigrated to…

B-0068301

1932-2016

Mewa Ramgobin

… beginnings became a successful farmer. Ramgobin attended the Inanda Government Aided Indian School. In 1949 he attended the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) run…

B-0008936

1583-1663

Njinga Ana de Sousa

… The history of Queen Njinga (or Nzinga) of Ndongo/Matamba is contested. Portuguese colonial … her conversion to Catholicism and her participation in the…

B-0123373

1942

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki

… was born on June 18 1942, in Mbewuleni (meaning ‘place of seed’), a tiny village in Idutywa in Transkei (now Eastern … His middle name ’Mvuyelwa’ is Xhosa…

B-0008516

1930-2018

David Goldblatt

… David Goldblatt, one of South Africa’s most famous documentary photographers, is internationally acclaimed for his work. The grandson of Lithuanian-Jewish…

B-0008106

1902-1996

Jane Gool

… in Cape Town on 19 March 1902 to Yusuf and Wageda Gool, the sixth of nine children. Her father, an immigrant from India, … was a successful merchant, who had…

B-0122124

1901-1966

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd

… Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 8 September 1901. He was the second child of Anje Strik and Wilhelmus Johannes Verwoerd…

B-0009202

1945

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva

… Luis Inácio Lula da Silva was born on 27 October 1945 in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil. He was the 35th President of Brazil. President Lula had little ……

B-0065251

1915-1983

B J Vorster [John Vorster]

… Vorster (also known as BJ Vorster or John Vorster) was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978, after having served as … Nationalist who early…

B-0009211

1892-1985

Dr James Sebe Moroka

… Dr. James Sebe Moroka was the great grandson of Chief Moroka I of the Barolong, from Thaba Nchu  in the then Orange Free State. … Medical doctor, AAC…

B-0068105

1953

Penny Siopis

… installations. Siopis’ work is marked by three interests, the physicality of paint, the accumulation of found objects (including video footage), …

B-0009068

1934

Reverend Mcebisi Osman Xundu

… The Reverend Mcebisi Osman Xundu was born on the 11 June 1934, at Engcobo, Transkei, one of seven children of Regina and Amos Xundu.  He attended the ……

B-0068895

1922-1992

Hassan Howa

… Cape Province) into a large working-class family, one of 12 children of a Christian, Coloured mother and a Muslim … in District Six, Cape Town, after which…

B-0008178

1914-2000

Constance Stuart Larrabee

… spent three years studying abroad. She studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic School of Photography after which she apprenticed in the studios of Yevonde,…

B-0008298

1942-1993

Chris Hani

… Thembisile Chris Hani was born in the rural village of Sabalele, in the Cofimvaba region of the former Transke i. He was the … L.S.A. Togni. The new…

B-0064845

1907-1983

Michael Guthrie Scott

… This article was written by Ben Forstate and forms part of the SAHO Public History Internship Michael Guthrie Scott was born on 30 July 1907 in the village…

B-0084331