Ethel de Keyser OBE (4 November 1926 — 16 July 2004) was a South African anti-apartheid activist based in London, England.

Early life

Ethel Tarshish was born in 1926, to Jewish parents who moved to South Africa soon after she was born. (Some obituaries located her birth in Vilnius, some in South Africa.)

Paul Trewhela Paul Trewhela (born 1941) is a South African journalist and a former political prisoner. Biography Trewhela was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1941, educated at Michaelhouse in KwaZulu-Natal. Trewhela worked in underground journalism ...

"Ethel de Keyser: London Anti-Apartheid Activist"
''The Independent'' (30 July 2004). Her father owned a garment factory in South Africa. She went to college in England and became a British citizen. She returned to South Africa in 1960 after the Sharpeville massacre and the detention of her brother Jack Tarshish.

Career

She became involved with her anti-apartheid work. She was on her way back to England in 1963 when Jack was arrested again as a member of the African National Congress. She was in South Africa for the trial but was deported afterwards, and Jack was jailed for twelve years. Back in England, she worked for the London Symphony Orchestra while volunteering for the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), eventually becoming its executive secretary.Robert Hughes and Mike Terry
"Ethel de Keyser; Dedicated and Lifelong Campaigner in the Struggle Against Apartheid"
''The Guardian'' (20 July 2004). She led campaigns to maintain the British arms embargo against South Africa, and to refuse recognition to the Ian Smith regime in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. She helped organize SATIS (South Africa The Imprisoned Society), a conference and network for those working for the release of political prisoners. She became director of the British

Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa The International Defence and Aid Fund or IDAF (also the Defence Aid Fund for Southern Africa) was a fund created by John Collins during the 1956 Treason Trial in South Africa. After learning of those accused of treason for protesting against apar ...

(BDAF) in 1981, and set up an educational trust (the Canon Collins Educational Trust for Southern Africa) as well. Antony Sher said she was his "political guru" during this time. After 1994, her work shifted from an anti-apartheid focus to health and education causes in South Africa, including HIV/AIDS. She was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for her human rights work in 2001.

Personal life

Ethel Tarshish was married to actor David de Keyser for ten years (from 1949 to 1959), and she had a longterm relationship with writer George Lamming. Ethel de Keyser died aged 77 on 16 July 2004, after a heart attack. She had been looking forward to being awarded an honorary degree at the University of the Western Cape in September. The trustees of the Canon Collins Educational Trust established scholarships in her name as a memorial."The Ethel de Keyser Scholarships Fund"
Canon Collins Educational Trust.

References

External links

"Ethel de Keyser"
''South African History Online'' (2011).

at ''Forward to Freedom: A History of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement'' AAM Archives. *'' Have You Heard from Johannesburg?'' (2010)
a seven-part documentary film series
about the international anti-apartheid movement, produced and directed by

Connie Field Connie Field is an American film director known for her work in documentaries. Her works include ''The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter'' (1980), ''Forever Activists'' (1990), ''Freedom on My Mind'' (1994) and ''Have You Heard from Johannesbur ...

.
"Papers relating to Ethel de Keyser"
Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Keyser, Ethel 1926 births 2004 deaths South African activists South African women activists