Desmond Tutu Biography: Birth, Age, Death, Family, Religion, Nobel Peace Prize, and More About South Africa's Anti-apartheid Icon

Desmond Tutu Biography: South Africa's anti-apartheid icon, Nobel laureate and Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, passed away at the age of 90 years on 26 December 2021. He will lie in state at St. George's on Friday before his funeral service there on 1 January 2022. His last public appearance was in October 2021 at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town for a service marking his 90th birthday.

As the world mourns his death and tributes pour in from around the world, let us take a look at his life. 

Desmond Tutu Biography

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Desmond Tutu Biography: Birth, Age, Education, and Early Life

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was born on 7 October 1931 in Klerksdorp, northwest South Africa to Zachariah Zelilo Tutu and Allen Dorothea Mavoertsek Mathlare. The family were Methodists but later changed to the  Anglican Church. 

Tutu started his primary education in Tshing, where he learned Afrikaans and became the server at St. Francis Anglican Church. As his parents moved from one place to another to earn a living, Tutu attended various schools before finally completing his pre-university education at Johannesburg Bantu High School.

He was trained as a teacher at Pretoria Bantu Normal College and graduated from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1954. After serving three years as a teacher at Madibane High School and Krugersdorp High School, he started studying Theology and was ordained as a priest in 1960. 

He attended King's College London from 1962 to 1966 to further his Theological study. During his college days, he met the first lawyer and future president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. 

Desmond Tutu developed a habit of reading at an early age and enjoyed reading comics and European fairy tales. He also developed a love for Rugby and joined his school's sports team. His greatest single influence was Trevor Huddleston, an English Anglican Bishop. 

In order to earn money, Tutu sold oranges and worked as a caddie for white golfers. He briefly lived with family near Johannesburg to avoid the expense of a daily train commute to school. He also volunteered at St Paul's Church as a Sunday school teacher, assistant choirmaster, church councillor, lay preacher, and sub-deacon, and as a football administrator for a local team outside of the church. 

Desmond Tutu: Career, Ordination and the Anti-apartheid Movement

When the white-minority National Party government introduced Bantu Education Act to further white domination and racial segregation, both Tutu and his wife left the teaching profession. Tutu with the support of Trevor Huddleston chose to become an Anglican priest. 

He went on to join St. Peter's Theological College and earned a Licentiate of Theology degree. As part of his course, he studied Bible, Anglican doctrine, church history, and Christian ethics. 

Tulu was appointed assistant curate in St Alban's Parish, Benoni and was reunited with his wife and children. As assistant curate, Tutu earned two-thirds of what his white counterparts were given. 

In 1962, he was transferred to  St Philip's Church in Thokoza and was made in charge of the congregation and developed a passion for pastoral ministry. 

In 1966, Tutu moved to East Jerusalem with his family and studied Greek and Arabic languages for two months at St. George's College. He returned to South Africa in the following year. 

The Federal Theological Seminary was established in South Africa and Tutu was employed as its teaching doctrine, the Old Testament, and Greek while his wife as a library assistant. He was the first black staff member of the college. 

Tutu started publishing academic journals, joined a pan-protestant group and student delegations, and supported the Black Consciousness Movement that emerged from South Africa's 1960s student milieu. He also witnessed the state power which was used to suppress dissent when students held a sit-in protest against administration policies. 

Tutu in January 1970 joined the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (UBLS) as a teacher to live closer to his children and earned twice what he earned at Fedsem. 

After joining the executive board of the Lesotho Ecumenical Association, Tutu served as an external examiner for both Fedsem and Rhodes University.

Tutu was offered the post of director of Africa by the TEF for which he relocated to England. His job was to assess grants to theological training institutions and students. He toured many regions during this time and wrote his experiences. At this time, his family was settled in Groove Park where Tutu became curate of St. Augustine's Church.

While Tutu was nominated to be the new Bishop of Johannesburg, he lost it to Timothy Bavin in 1975. Tutu was then elected as the dean of St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg, the first black man on the fourth highest in South Africa's Anglican hierarchy. 

The cathedral's congregation was racially mixed giving Tutu a ray of hope that a de-segregated, racially equal future was possible for India. He also attempted to replace masculine pronouns with gender-neutral ones but failed. 

He used his position to bring about a change and spoke on social issues. He met with Black Consciousness and Soweto leaders, and shared a platform with anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela, opposing the Terrorism Act, 1967. He also held a 24-hour vigil at the cathedral and prayed for activists detained under the act.

In 1976, the Soweto uprising broke out and at least 660 were killed, most under the age of 24. Tutu was upset over this and cited that the white silence was deafening.

The same year, he was nominated for the position of Bishop of Lesotho and was elected on the position in March 1976. He was enthroned as the Bishop of Lesotho in a ceremony held at Maseru's Cathedral of St. Mary and St. James. The ceremony was attended by many including  King Moshoeshoe II and Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan.

He befriended the royal family but maintained a strained relationship with Jonathan's government. 

Tutu attended the funeral of Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko in September 1977 who was killed by the police. At the funeral, he stated, "Black Consciousness was a movement by which God, through Steve, sought to awaken in the black person a sense of his intrinsic value and worth as a child of God." 

Tutu was nominated for the post of general secretary of SACC after John Ress stepped down. John Thorne was elected to the position to only step down after three months. Once more, Tutu was nominated for the post and was appointed. He took charge of the SACC in March 1978. His wife on the other hand was appointed as the assistant director of the Institute of Race Relations.

It is interesting to note that SACC was among a handful of Christian institutions in South Africa where black people were in majority and Tutu was its first black leader. 

As part of his position at SACC, Tutu introduced a schedule of daily staff prayers, Bible study and silent retreats, among other things. Due to his new style of leadership, he was referred to as 'Baba' by his staff members. 

Tutu was determined to make SACC one of South Africa's most visible human rights advocacy organisations. As part of his efforts, he gained recognition becoming a fellow at King's College, London in 1978 and received honorary doctorates from the  University of Kent, General Theological Seminary, and Harvard University. 

Desmond Tutu Books

Desmond Tutu has authored seven collections of sermons and other writings. These are mentioned below:

1- Crying in the Wilderness

2- Hope and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches

3- The War Against Children: South Africa’s Youngest Victims

4- The Words of Desmond Tutu

5- The Rainbow People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution

6- Worshipping Church in Africa

7- The Essential Desmond Tutu

8- No Future Without Forgiveness

9- An African Prayerbook

10- God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time

11- Desmond and the Very Mean Word

12- The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World

13- The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Desmond Tutu Religion

In June 1932, Desmond Tutu was baptised into the Methodist Church. At the age of 12, he underwent confirmation at St Mary's Church, Roodepoort. 

Desmond Tutu Wife and Children

Desmond Tutu started courting his sister's friend, Nomalizo Leah Shenxane. In June 1955, the duo married at Krugersdorp Native Commissioner's Court before undergoing a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony at the Church of Mary Queen of Apostles, due to Leah's Roman Catholic faith. The couple gave birth to four children-- Trevor Thamsanqa, Theresa Thandeka, Naomi Nontombi and Mpho Andrea. 

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