Nobel Peace Prize award-winner Bishop Desmond Tutu was a renowned South African Anglican cleric known for his staunch opposition to the policies of apartheid.
He was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, and educated at Johannesburg Bantu High School. Afterward, he trained as a teacher at Pretoria Bantu Normal College and graduated from the University of South Africa in 1954. After three years as a high school teacher, he studied theology and was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1961. He spent 1962 to 1966 studying in England, which led to a Master of Theology from King's College. From 1967 to 1972, he taught theology in South Africa before returning to England for three years as the assistant director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches in Kent. In 1975, he was appointed Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first black to hold that position. From 1976 to 1978, he was Bishop of Lesotho, and in 1978 became the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches.
Tutu became a leading spokesperson for the rights of Black South Africans. During the 1980s, he played an almost unrivaled role in drawing national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid, and in 1984, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. He later chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and continued to draw attention to social justice issues. Tutu held honorary doctorates from several leading universities in the USA, Britain, and Germany.
Tutu married Nomalizo Leah on July 2, 1955. They had four children and remained married until his death on December 26, 2021.
