Ruth First (1925 - 1982)

Sun May 04, 1952

Image: Ruth First, in 1966, in a promotional image for a film about her detention in South Africa

Ruth First, born on this day in 1925, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar who was assassinated by the South African police while living in exile in Mozambique.

As an anti-apartheid activist, First had been harassed for years by the South African government. In 1956, First, alongside 155 other activists, were all charged and acquitted of treason in the country's infamous "Treason Trial".

After the state of emergency declared after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, First was banned from political participation. She could not attend meetings, publish, or even be quoted in print. In 1963, she was imprisoned and held in isolation without charge for 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law, the first white woman to be detained under this law.

In August of 1982, First was assassinated by South African police in Mozambique, where she was working in exile. South Africa's "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" later granted amnesty to Craig Williamson and Roger Raven, two of the men responsible for her death.

"Poverty and the rule of race that is called apartheid drive the Transkeian migrant from security on the land to work in the cities, and then back again."

- Ruth First

• Date: 1952-05-04
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.sahistory.org.za.
• Tags: #CivilRights, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org