Ellen Kuzwayo
Encyclopedia
Nnoseng Ellen Kate Kuzwayo (29 June 1914 – 19 April 2006) was a women's rights activist and politician in South Africa
. She was president of the African National Congress
Youth League in the 1960s. In 1994 she was elected to the first post-apartheid South African Parliament. Her autobiography, Call Me Woman (1985) won the CNA Prize.
to the Cape
to attend the Lovedale Institute
, circa 1875. He qualified as a teacher and also worked as a court interpreter and a Methodist lay preacher. Makgothi was the only layman to work with Robert Moffat
on the translation of the Bible
into Setswana.
Both Makgothi and Kuzwayo's father, PS Mefare, were political. Makgothi was secretary of the Orange Free State branch of the South African Native National Congress, Mefare a member of its successor, the African National Congress
.
, Orange Free State. In 1937 she graduated from a higher teacher's training course at Adams College, Amanzimtoti.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. She was president of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
Youth League in the 1960s. In 1994 she was elected to the first post-apartheid South African Parliament. Her autobiography, Call Me Woman (1985) won the CNA Prize.
Family background
Kuzwayo came of an educated, political family. Her maternal grandfather, Jeremaiah Makgothi, was taken by his mother from the Orange Free StateOrange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
to the Cape
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
to attend the Lovedale Institute
Lovedale (South Africa)
Lovedale was a mission station and educational institute in the VictoriaEast division of the Cape Province, South Africa...
, circa 1875. He qualified as a teacher and also worked as a court interpreter and a Methodist lay preacher. Makgothi was the only layman to work with Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat was a Scottish Congregationalist missionary to Africa, and father in law of David Livingstone....
on the translation of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into Setswana.
Both Makgothi and Kuzwayo's father, PS Mefare, were political. Makgothi was secretary of the Orange Free State branch of the South African Native National Congress, Mefare a member of its successor, the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
.
Education
Kuzwayo began her schooling at the school built by Makgothi on his farm in Thabapatchoa, about 12 miles from TweespruitTweespruit
Tweespruit is a small dairy farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It started out as an experimental farm set up on an old British Boer War settlement which was between "two creeks" hence the name....
, Orange Free State. In 1937 she graduated from a higher teacher's training course at Adams College, Amanzimtoti.
Works
- Call Me Woman. London: The Women's Press (1985). ISBN 1-879960-09-5, reprinted Aunt Lute BooksAunt Lute BooksAunt Lute Books is a multicultural feminist press whose mission is to "publish literature by women whose voices have been traditionally under-represented in mainstream and small press publishing" and "distribute literature that expresses the true complexity of women’s lives and the possibilities...
, 1992
External links
- "Another Milestone for Ellen Kuzwayo" City of Johannesburg website, 7 December 2004.