South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has died

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South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has died

South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has died at the age of 90.

Tutu, the last surviving South African laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, died in Cape Town.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa.”

Desmond Tutu, in full Desmond Mpilo Tutu, (born October 7, 1931, Klerksdorp, South Africa), in 1984 received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in the opposition to apartheid in South Africa.

He was appointed dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg in 1975, the first Black South African to hold that position. From 1976 to 1978 Tutu served as bishop of Lesotho.

During the 1980s he played an unrivaled role in drawing national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid.

He emphasized nonviolent means of protest and encouraged the application of economic pressure by countries dealing with South Africa. The award of the 1984 Nobel Prize for Peace to Tutu sent a significant message to South African Pres. P.W. Botha’s administration.

During South Africa’s moves toward democracy in the early 1990s, Tutu propagated the idea of South Africa as “the Rainbow Nation,” and he continued to comment on events with varying combinations of trenchancy and humour. In 1995 South African Pres. Nelson Mandela appointed Tutu head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated allegations of human rights abuses during the apartheid era.

Tutu retired from the primacy in 1996 and became archbishop emeritus. In July 2010 he announced his intention to effectively withdraw from public life in October, though he said he would continue his work with the Elders, a group of international leaders he cofounded in 2007 for the promotion of conflict resolution and problem solving throughout the world. On October 7, 2010—his 79th birthday—he began his retirement.