Politics
Desmond Tutu
Archbishop and anti-apartheid leader, Nobel Peace Prize 1984
Born 1931 · Died 2021
Photo: Benny Gool · Public domain
«If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.»
Desmond Tutu was one of the most prominent voices against apartheid in South Africa and later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which heard testimony from both victims and perpetrators. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Key achievements
- Nobel Peace Prize, 1984, for opposing apartheid
- Chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Universities
London
Took a bachelor's and master's degree in theology in the 1960s, spending four years in London.
Facts
- He said his years in London were the first time he had lived without racial restrictions, and that it changed what he thought was possible.
- He coined the phrase rainbow nation to describe post-apartheid South Africa.
- He physically intervened to save a man from being killed by a crowd during the violence of the 1980s.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.