Biography

The beginning

Desmond Tutu was born October 7, 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa. His parents’ names were Zacheriah Zilio and Aletta Tutu. As a kid, Tutu recalls being treated differently than the white children but said they always made the most of it and had a really wonderful childhood. “It wasn’t the same thing for white kids, but it was as full a life as you could make it. I mean, we made toys for ourselves with wires, making cars, and you really were exploding with joy!” said Tutu. Tutu talked about the first time he remembers a white man, a priest, (Trevor Huddleston) paying respects to a black women, a priest tipped his hat at his mother while they were walking by. This had a lasting impression on him when it came to pushing to end discrimination. (“Desmond Tutu”)

Education

            In 1945, Tutu started his high school education in Johannesburg. It was around this time doctors diagnosed him with Tuberculosis, he became very sick, and stayed in the hospital for over a year. The same white priest came to visit him often in the hospital. (“Did you know”). This drove him to want to pursue an education in medicine but due to lack of money he decided to go a different route. He went to Pretoria Bantu Normal College and was awarded his teaching degree. He then went to the University of South Africa in 1954 and got his Bachelors of Art degree. After only teaching for three short years, he quit in protest of Bantu Education Act of 1953, which was a restriction on education for black children. He started to study at St. Peters Theological College and was ordained as an Anglican Deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1961. He continued and got his master of theology from King’s College in 1966. (“The Legacy of Desmond Tutu”). Tutu knew he wanted to make a difference in the world especially against discrimination and knew he would have more of an impact if he did it from a religious standpoint.

Apartheid

In 1961, he was ordained as a minister in the Anglican Church. Tutu fought every day to end discrimination and bring peace to everyone in South Africa. He was known as “the voice of the voiceless Black South Africans”. In 1984, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in ending the South Africans Apartheid Government. Tutu was appointed chairman of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the 1990’s. This was a postaparthied government commission to try to reunite the country as one.  Tutu said “The commission granted perpetrators of political crimes the opportunity to appeal for amnesty by giving a full and truthful account of their actions and, if they so choose, an opportunity to ask for forgiveness—opportunities that some took and others did not. The commission also gave victims of political crimes a chance to tell their stories, hear confessions, and thus unburden themselves from the pain and suffering they had experienced.” The point of this all was so that the country could move on through forgiveness and heal instead of constantly holding onto that hurt. (Truth and Reconciliation)

Retirement

In 1996, Desmond Tutu retires from Archbishop of Cape Town. He was awarded many things including the presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama and a Nobel Peace Prize. In 2010, he announces his retirement from public life so he and his wife can live a normal life. He wrote a few books about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, forgiveness, and his life. Tutu has had a lot of medical conditions that have made it so he is constantly in and out of the hospital. He also created the Desmond Tutu Foundation that help educate children and help the find jobs and live a life through forgiveness and love. The foundations vision is to create peace in counties all across the world and unite people. He also has a foundation that helps people with HIV pay for medical bills and give them hope that everything will be okay. (“Home”)

Jonas. “Desmond Mpilo Tutu Timeline.” South African History Online, 6 Oct. 2016, www.sahistory.org.za/article/desmond-mpilo-tutu-timeline.

“Truth and Reconciliation.” Greater Good, greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/truth_and_reconciliation.

Baines, Wesley. “The Legacy of Desmond Tutu.” Beliefnet, Beliefnet Beliefnet Is a Lifestyle Website Providing Feature Editorial Content around the Topics of Inspiration, Spirituality, Health, Wellness, Love and Family, News and Entertainment., http://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/the-legacy-of-desmond-tutu.aspx.

Vuuren, Ulrich Janse Van. “Did You Know That Two Nobel Peace Prize Winners Contracted TB – and Survived?” ONE, ONE, 14 Dec. 2016, http://www.one.org/africa/blog/did-you-know-that-two-nobel-peace-prize-winners-contracted-tb-and-survived/.

“Desmond Tutu.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 May 2019, http://www.biography.com/political-figure/desmond-tutu.

“Home.” Desmond Tutu Foundation USA, http://www.tutufoundationusa.org/.