About Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Laureate, is one of the greatest living moral icons of our time who was a key role player in the fight against apartheid in South Africa and the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
About Desmond Tutu
About Desmond and Leah Tutu
20:15pm Saturday 4 February
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Early Life
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in Klerksdorp on 7 October 1931 and schooled in Ventersdorp, Krugersdorp and Johannesburg. His father was a primary school principal and his mother worked as a cleaner and a cook at a school for the blind.
Tutu recalls that as a child, one day he saw a white priest raise his hat to his mother. He had never seen a white man pay this courtesy to black woman and the gesture made an impression on him. The priest was Trevor Huddleston, who was to play a significant role in Tutu's life.
By 1954 Tutu had a teaching diploma from the Pretoria Bantu Normal College and he later a completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA).
But after three years as a teacher, Tutu quit in protest against the deteriorating standard of Black education that resulted from the implementation of the Bantu Education Act of 1953.
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