Desmond Tutu

Biography

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on 7 October 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, with roots in both Xhosa and Motswana communities. He grew up in modest surroundings and spent part of his childhood in Munsieville. Initially trained as a schoolteacher, he quit teaching in protest after the apartheid government enacted the Bantu Education Act of 1953, which enforced a lower standard of education for Black South Africans. He then decided to join the Anglican Church and became a priest in 1960. Two years later, he moved to the UK to study theology at King's College London, an experience that deepened his commitment to human dignity. He married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, and together they raised several children, with her support unwavering throughout his public life.

Returning to southern Africa in 1966, Tutu taught at the Federal Theological Seminary and later at the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland. In 1972, he took the role of director of the Theological Education Fund for Africa, based in London, which required him to travel extensively across the continent. Back in South Africa by 1975, he served as dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg before becoming Bishop of Lesotho. From 1978 to 1985, he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches, a role he used to strongly condemn apartheid. He urged Western governments and companies to apply economic pressure on Pretoria, argued that the system violated Christian principles, and warned that continued oppression could lead to widespread violence. In 1985, he became Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 Archbishop of Cape Town, the first Black African to hold each position.

As Archbishop, Tutu led the Anglican Church of Southern Africa through consensus and oversaw the ordination of women as priests. He also served as president of the All Africa Conference of Churches from 1986. His moral authority was internationally recognized in 1984 when he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful fight against apartheid. He later received numerous other awards, including the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987, the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Worship in 1998, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. The Templeton Prize came in 2013.

After South Africa's first fully democratic elections in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed Tutu to lead the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which held public hearings from 1996 to 1998 on human rights violations during apartheid. The commission's work, offering amnesty for full disclosure, was controversial but seen as a serious effort to address past crimes without widespread prosecutions. Tutu's idea of restorative justice, influenced by the African philosophy of ubuntu, shaped its principles. He retired as Archbishop in 1996 but continued to speak out and campaign on issues like Palestinian rights, LGBTQ equality, and climate change. He died in Cape Town on 26 December 2021 at the age of 90.