Ben Turok (26 June 1927 – 9 December 2019) was an anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

activist, Economics Professor, convicted criminal and a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n member of parliament as a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

Biography

Turok was born to poor working-class Jewish parents in Byelorussia in 1927, who were radicalized by the secular

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

Bundist movement; his parents migrated to Libau,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

when his father became involved in the Jewish labor movement. Later, seeking safety, Turok's father moved the family to the then

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

in 1934. He graduated from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1950. Returning to South Africa in 1953, he joined the

South African Congress of Democrats The South African Congress of Democrats (SACOD) was a radical left-wing white, anti-apartheid organization founded in South Africa in 1952 or 1953 as part of the multi-racial Congress Alliance, after the African National Congress (ANC) invited whi ...

and in 1955 became its secretary for the Cape western region, acting as a full-time organizer for the Congress of the People. He was the African representative on the

Cape Provincial Council The Cape Provincial Council was the provincial council of the Cape Province of South Africa. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, with effect from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910. The first election to the provinc ...

. Turok was the father of Fred Turok, Ivan Turok and

Neil Turok Neil Geoffrey Turok (born 16 November 1958) is a South African physicist. He holds the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh since 2020, and has been director emeritus of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physi ...

, a

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

, and founder of the

African Institute for Mathematical Sciences The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a tertiary education and research institute in Muizenberg, South Africa, established in September 2003, and an associated network of linked institutes in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzan ...

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for "mice mountain") is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

, South Africa. Turok was instrumental in helping draw up the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

and also served time in jail under apartheid. Ben died on the morning of 9 December 2019. He was 92 years old.Ben Turok’s commitment to liberation, non-racialism and equality
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References

External links

Ben Turok's Personal website

South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid - Building Democracy
See a 56 min video interview of Ben Turok in 2006 recounting his participation in the struggle against apartheid and other topics, e.g. religion and the struggle.
South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid - Building Democracy
* Read a brief biography of Ben Turok fro

Archives of Ben Turok at the University of London
1927 births 2019 deaths Latvian emigrants to South Africa South African academics 20th-century South African economists University of Cape Town alumni Academics of the Open University People acquitted of treason African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa South African prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of South Africa White South African anti-apartheid activists Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists {{AntiApartheid-activist-stub