Desmond Tutu
Anglican archbishop and activist
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
2 summaries 42 min of listening
Born 1931 in Munsieville, South Africa Died 2021
About Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and died in 2021. He trained as a teacher, was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960, and later studied theology at King's College London. He served as Bishop of Johannesburg and then as Archbishop of Cape Town, the first black African to hold either post. He ran the South African Council of Churches as its general secretary between 1978 and 1985, and he became one of the best-known opponents of apartheid. After the 1994 election, Nelson Mandela chose him to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which looked into past human rights abuses. Tutu also chaired The Elders, and his honors include the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. His books on BookBits include The Book of Forgiving and The Book of Joy.