Abraham Louis Fischer was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia Trial.
21 Facts About Bram Fischer
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Bram Fischer was sentenced to life imprisonment, and diagnosed with cancer while in prison.
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In 1937, Bram Fischer married Molly Krige, a niece of Jan Smuts; the couple had three children.
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Bram Fischer swerved the car to avoid hitting a cow that had strayed onto the road.
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Bram Fischer was devastated and inconsolable, devoting himself more than ever to his secret life as a leader of the South African Communist Party.
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Bram Fischer joined the Communist Party of South Africa in the 1940s and soon rose to leadership positions.
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The CPSA had a close relationship with the African National Congress and in 1943, Bram Fischer co-authored revisions to the constitution of the ANC.
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Bram Fischer was released on bail to handle a patent case in London.
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Bram Fischer applied for bail to attend to his case.
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Bram Fischer went underground to support the liberation struggle against apartheid.
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Bram Fischer was struck off the advocate's roll in 1965 in a trial completed in his absence.
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Bram Fischer was arrested in November 1965, nine months after his return to South Africa and after 290 days underground.
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Bram Fischer was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Bram Fischer needed a crutch to walk but a request for one was denied; a broom was found and used instead.
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When he returned from the hospital Bram Fischer was in a wheelchair, disorientated and unable to look after himself.
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Bram Fischer was allowed to leave the prison shortly before his death and placed under house arrest at his brother's home in Bloemfontein in April 1975.
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The prisons department had Bram Fischer's ashes returned to them after the funeral and they have never been located.
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Bram Fischer had been reluctant to serve as leader of the defence at the Rivonia Trial, since many of the witnesses could implicate him in illegal communist activities.
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In 2003 Bram Fischer became the first South African ever to be posthumously reinstated to the Bar.
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In 2004, despite opposition from alumni and management, Bram Fischer was awarded a posthumous honorary degree by Stellenbosch University.
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In 2017 the feature film Bram Fischer directed by Jean van de Velde was released in the Netherlands, with the role of Bram Fischer played by Peter Paul Muller.