Albert John “Mvumbi” Luthuli . South African politician and president of the African National Congress since 1952 . He was a supporter of non-violence, a great admirer of Gandhi’s work and a strong opponent of the policy of racial segregation of the white South African authorities. In 1960 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid and for his work in favor of racial integration.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Youth and studies
- 2 Political trajectory
- 2.1 Convicted and imprisoned
- 3 Nobel Prize winner
- 4 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical synthesis
Youth and studies
He was a member of the Zulu ethnic group . His father was a prominent Protestant missionary in his native region, who was in Rhodesia preaching when Luthuli was born. When his father died, Luthuli was ten years old, and he was forced to move with his family to the city of Groutville, where he was originally from, located in Natal. He settled in the home of his uncle, the head of the village, who taught him the local customs and traditions.
Shortly thereafter, he entered a Christian mission school, where he received his early education. The influence of this period of his formation would be fundamental in the first years of his political life, since he was an enthusiastic propagandist of Christian principles, especially moral ones. He continued his studies at the Edendale school, near the town of Pietermaritsburg. He completed his training at Adams College, Durban , where he attended teacher school. After graduating he became a professor at that institution, becoming one of the first three professors of black origin. He taught history and literature classes .
Political career
He married Nokukhanga Bhengu in 1927 , a teacher like him and the granddaughter of a clan chief. In 1933 he received a delegation of Zulu from his village of Groutville who asked him to succeed his uncle, the village chief, who recently died. Finally he accepted the proposal and in 1935 he gave up his teaching activity to take charge of his village, which had 5,000 inhabitants. From his position as head of the village, he became aware of the miserable situation in which the black population found itself, submerged in hunger, poverty and political violence. However, based on his religious beliefs, he advised patience and resignation.
He tried to promote culture among the black population, for which he founded numerous associations such as the Natal African Teachers Association and the Zulu Cultural and Language Society. He was also one of the founders of the South African Soccer Association. Shortly afterwards, he joined the Christian Council of the South African Union. As a member of this organization, in 1939 he attended the conference held in Madras as a representative of South Africa, attended by representatives of various Christian Churches, and which dealt with the topic of missionary action.
But his position in the social situation of the black population changed radically in 1946 after witnessing a massacre of black miners who were on strike. From that moment he decided to get involved in active politics. As a result, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), the main nationalist party for the black population of South Africa, with which he came into contact thanks to his friendship with the party leader in Natal province. Shortly after, he was elected a member of the Party’s Council of Representatives in Natal. Again he attended a new conference of Christian missionary churches that took place in the United States , where he stood out as a brilliant speaker. In his speeches he stated that the situation in Africaof the black population and racial discrimination were a severe test for Christians. Upon his return to South Africa, he had become one of the country’s most prestigious leaders of color and was elected president of the ANC in Natal. However, he had to contemplate how the Afrikaner nationalists had regained power. From his political positions he showed a tenacious fight against racial segregation, although always showing himself in favor of non-violent action, a political option for which he became its greatest spokesperson.
Luthuli considered that the policy of non-violence, being a non-revolutionary pressure technique, was the most legitimate and humane for a people who have been denied their rights. He made a radical opposition to the Pretoria government’s policy of racial discrimination. He was convinced of the equal rights of all men, whatever their race. He believed that the black problem was solved when the white population, through exhortation and preaching, ended up granting all their rights to the black population. He launched a nationwide campaign to denounce injustices, resulting in 8,500 people voluntarily going to prison. He got the resignation of the government, so his reputation grew. In 1952when apartheid policy was put into practice, he was elected president of the African National Congress. Under his leadership the party opposed the concentration camps where the black people of South Africa were imprisoned. He publicly asked for peaceful disobedience to the laws decreed by the government, since he considered them as an attack on the dignity of man. He wanted to avoid bloodshed at all costs. His political position caused him to be removed as head of his tribe by the South African government and banned from the main cities and towns of South Africa.
Convicted and jailed
His political activity against the racist Pretoria regime led to him being detained on numerous occasions. In 1954 he made a trip around the country to hear the opinion directly from the mouth of the black population. When the government could not change its position based on pressure and threats, he was accused of high treason in 1956 along with 155 other black activists. He was convicted, jailed, and deprived of various civil rights. He was momentarily released in 1957 . He did not get the support of any white organization for his call for a general strike that he made shortly after his release. Shortly after, he was arrested again. He remained in prison until 1959, when he was released but remained in guarded residence in his native village, from which he was banned from leaving for five years based on the recently passed law to suppress communism. He was arrested again in March 1960 , when he publicly condemned the Sharpeville massacre, where South African police fired on a peaceful demonstration of the black population. He had publicly called for civil disobedience, and he himself publicly burned his passport.
Nobel Prize winner
Following this action, the government declared the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress illegal . For his policy of opposition to apartheid and for his attempts to achieve racial integration, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 , making him the first African to do so. The South African authorities prohibited him from going to Osloto collect the award. International pressure resulted in this veto being lifted the following year, and Luthuli could thus receive the award from the Norwegian King Olav V in December. He attended the ceremony dressed in the traditional South African way, with a blue cloak, a leopard-skin cap with a monkey’s tail plume. In his speech of gratitude, he stated that he received it as a tribute to mother Africa and all her peoples, without distinction of race, color or creed. Upon his return, his freedom of movement was curtailed and he was confined in the province of Natal, preventing him from speaking in public.
A bust of Mvumbi in the town of KwaDukuza recalls the work of this fighter against Apartheid .
Death
Despite this, he continued to lead the African National Congress, but more as a moral benchmark than as a political leader. He had to see how sectors opposed to non-violence, which Luthuli had defended so many times, emerged within the formation. A faction of the party called La Lanza de la Nación began attacking government facilities, so the policy of non-violence was abandoned. In 1962 he published his biography entitled Let My People Go (Freedom for my people) in which he made a summary of his political struggle and his political ideology. He died in 1967 when he was hit by a train while crossing rail lines near his home.
