30 Facts About Ruth First

Heloise Ruth First OLG was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar.

Ruth First was assassinated in Mozambique, where she was working in exile, by a parcel bomb built by South African police.

Ruth First was born 4 May 1925 in Johannesburg to her Jewish parents, Julius First and Matilda Leveta.

Ruth First was brought up in Kensington where she and her brother, Ronald First, were raised in a highly political household.

At age 14, Ruth was a member of the Young Left Wing Book Club.

Ruth First was involved in the founding of the Federation of Progressive Students, known as the Progressive Students League, and got to know, among other fellow students, Nelson Mandela, future President of South Africa, and Eduardo Mondlane, the first leader of the Mozambique freedom movement FRELIMO.

Ruth First was the secretary of the Young Communist League and for a short time, was active in the Johannesburg CPSA.

Ruth First then became the editor-in-chief of the radical newspaper The Guardian, which was banned by the state under the Communism Suppression Act and often changed names due to repressive state actions and media censorship.

Together, Slovo and Ruth First became a leading force in the 1950s protest era in which the government outlawed any movements that opposed their policies.

Ruth First played an active role during the extensive riots of the 1950s.

Ruth First was on the drafting committee of the Freedom Charter, but was unable to attend its presentation on 25 June 1955 at the Congress of the People at Kliptown due to a banning order.

Ruth First traveled to the International Union of Students and the founding conferences of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

Ruth First visited the Soviet Union, China, Britain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, and France.

Ruth First's husband was arrested, and she fled to Swaziland with their children in order to avoid arrest.

In 1961, Ruth First traveled to Namibia to interview the native Africans in the region.

Ruth First was imprisoned and held in isolation without charge for 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law.

Ruth First was the first white woman to be detained under this law.

Ruth First was originally placed at Marshall Square police station, and many of her belongings were taken.

Ruth First was often questioned about her involvement in Rivonia, but she never revealed any information to the police.

Ruth First was later moved to the Pretoria Central Prison where she was put under much higher security.

Ruth First was eventually brought back to Marshall Square in Johannesburg and released on 7 November 1963.

Ruth First was released from prison 4 December 1963 with no charges.

In March 1964, Ruth First went into exile in London, where she became active in the British Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Ruth First edited the biographies of Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, and Oginga Odinga in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Ruth First travelled across Africa between 1964 and 1968 to study independence struggles in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sudan.

Ruth First was a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester in 1972, and between 1973 and 1978 she lectured in development studies at the University of Durham.

Ruth First spent periods on secondment at universities in Dar es Salaam and Lourenco Marques, Maputo.

In November 1978, Ruth First took up the post of director of research at the Centre of African Studies, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, Mozambique.

Ruth First was assassinated by the order of Craig Williamson, a major in the South African Police, on 17 August 1982, when she opened a parcel bomb that had been sent to the university.

The 2006 film Catch a Fire about the activist Patrick Chamusso was written by Shawn Slovo, and in it Ruth First is portrayed by another daughter, Robyn Slovo, who was one of the film's producers.