In Memoriam : Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid leader and voice of justice

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican cleric known for his work civil and human rights to end apartheid in his native South Africa, has died. He was 90.

Desmond Tutu Dead at 90

In a statement confirming his death on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Tutu’s family and friends, calling him “a patriot without equal.”

“A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid. He was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world,” Ramaphosa said.

According to reports, Tutu had been ill for several years.

Desmond Tutu, the Arch

Born on October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, a town in South Africa’s Transvaal province, Tutu was an outspoken leader who fought for social justice in South Africa.

For six decades, Tutu — known affectionately as “the Arch” — was one of the primary voices in urging the South African government to end apartheid, the country’s official policy of racial segregation.

After apartheid ended in the early ’90s and Nelson Mandela became president of the country, Tutu was named chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He taught for two years at Emory University in Atlanta as a visiting professor and later lectured at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tutu was an author who published a plethora of books, including “No Future Without Forgiveness” (1999), “God Is Not a Christian” (2011), and a children’s book, “Desmond and the Very Mean Word” (2012).

He retired from public service in 2010 but remained unafraid to take controversial positions. He called for a boycott of Israel in 2014  and said that former US President George W. Bush and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair should be “made to answer” at the International Criminal Court for their actions around the Iraq war.

Honors

Tutu’s civil and human rights work led to prominent honors from around the world.

In 1984 he was awarded the prestigious Noble peace prize.

Former US President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

In 2012, Tutu was awarded a $1 million grant by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation for “his lifelong commitment to speaking truth to power.”

The following year, he received the Templeton Prize for his “life-long work in advancing spiritual principles such as love and forgiveness which has helped to liberate people around the world.”

Legacy

Desmond Tutu is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had four children, Trevor, Theresa, Naomi and Mpho.

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