15 Facts About Colin Legum

Colin Legum was a South African journalist and writer on African politics.

Colin Legum was a notable Anti-Apartheid activist and did much to popularise African history and current affairs for a British audience.

Colin Legum was born on 3 January 1919 in the rural settlement of Kestell in the Orange Free State, South Africa.

Colin Legum's parents were Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants who ran a small hotel.

Colin Legum was brought up by a Sotho nurse and "felt deeply about the injustice of the treatment of the local black population" as well as the poverty among the local whites.

Colin Legum was elected to Johannesburg City Council in 1942 where he was responsible for housing.

In London Legum gained a prestigious post at The Observer through personal contact with David Astor, its editor, who, like Legum, opposed South African policy.

Colin Legum became one of the first British journalists specifically focusing on African issues and remained with The Observer for most of his career, eventually becoming the paper's associate editor.

Colin Legum became part of the Africa Bureau run by Michael Scott and Mary Benson, which campaigned for reform in South Africa.

Colin Legum subsequently wrote numerous popular works on contemporary African subjects during the era of decolonisation, including Congo Disaster and Pan-Africanism: A Brief History.

Colin Legum became friends with several leading African nationalist leaders, notably Julius Nyerere, Seretse Khama, and Oliver Tambo.

Colin Legum married the economist Margaret Colin Legum in 1960 after the death of his first wife.

Colin Legum was banned from South Africa in 1962 and later from Rhodesia.

Colin Legum established the annual Africa Contemporary Record in 1968.

Colin Legum received honorary degrees from Rhodes University and the University of South Africa.