Intellectuals and Scholars

Christopher Gell (November 8, 1917-May 28, 1958) a stringent and effective critic of apartheid in South Africa, campaigned against it from within the confines of...

Magema ka Magwaza Fuze (1845-1922) wrote the first book to appear in print by any Zulu author, titled Abantu abanyama lapha bavela nakhona (“Black People:...

Johann Gottlieb Christaller (November 19, 1827-December 16, 1895) was a German missionary and philologist with the Basel Mission who made Twi the most important African...

Bram (Abram) Fischer (April 23, 1908-May 8, 1975) was a prominent Afrikaner member of the South African Communist Party and a distinguished lawyer who led...

Kwamena Bentsi-Enchill (September 22, 1919-October 21, 1974), a Supreme Court judge and a selfless public servant, was one of the most brilliant lawyers his country...

Ruth First (May 4, 1925-August 17, 1982), writer, academic and revolutionary, was a creative force and influence at the heart of South Africa’s liberation struggle....

John Fairbairn (1794-1864), a journalist and a pioneer for a free press in the Cape of Good Hope Colony. He was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland,...

William Wellington Gqoba (1840-April 26, 1888), a Xhosa intellectual of the late 19th century, edited the leading Xhosa journal of the day. Isigidimi samaXhosa (“The...

James Bruce (December 14, 1730-April 27, 1794) was a Scottish explorer who visited Ethiopia from 1769-72, and is best known for his Travels to Discover...

Jan (Frederik) Hendrik Homeyr (March 20, 1894-December 3, 1948), classicist and politician, was the son of Andries Brink Hofmeyr and Deborah Catherina, née Beyers. His...