Winifred "Freda" May Levson (born MacDonald Troup 21 November 1911 - 7 October 2004) was a South African activist. Levson fought against apartheid throughout her life. Her 1950 book, ''In Face of Fear: Michael Scott's Challenge to South Africa,'' brought public attention to the issues of racial segregation in Africa and also to the work of Reverend Michael Scott.

Biography

Levson was born in Pretoria on 21 November 1911. Until she was 13, she attended school in England and spent her holidays in Scotland. She went on to study geography at

St Hugh's College St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

. During World War II, she volunteered on a ship that took evacuee children to South Africa and afterwards, she stayed there with her family. Levson worked with Reverend Michael Scott in 1946 on the plight of Namibians and other related liberation campaigns. Levson felt that the plight of Hereros people in Namibia was a "test case" for racial segregation. In 1948, she took Scott's notes from the United Nations and used these to publish a book, ''In Face of Fear: Michael Scott's Challenge to South Africa'' (1950). The book includes historical perspective and attention to detail about Scott's work according to '' The Age''. However, '' The Observer'' wrote that the book "lacks balance, continuity and exactitude." The book did bring public attention to the issue. Levson married Leon Levson in the early 1950s and the couple moved to Johannesburg. She was involved in the launch of the 1952 defiance campaign against unjust laws led by the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Indian Congress (SAIC). Levson, spent four weeks in jail, along with

Bettie du Toit Bettie du Toit OLS (also Elizabeth Sophia Honman, born July 15, 1910, in Transvaal Province, Union of South Africa, died January 31, 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa) was a trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. Biogr ...

, for her participation. Both women were fined as well. Levson helped maintain the funds of the South African Treason Trial Defence fund which helped support legal fees for those accused during the

1956 Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...

. Levson also began to work with Congress Alliance in

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

and worked for the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF). She worked as IDAF secretary until 1961, when her husband became ill. Briefly, she and her husband moved to Malta for his health, but Leon Levson died that same year. Levson moved to London and met

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

there in 1962. In 1963, she started a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

movement called Playwrights Against Apartheid which encouraged writers to "withdraw rights to have their works performed in racially segregated theatres in South Africa."

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

was involved and '' Waiting for Godot'' was not performed again in South Africa until 1976 when it starred an all-black cast as Market Theatre, Johannesburg. Between 1980 and 1985, she served on the council of IDAF. When apartheid was ended, Levson donated her papers to Fort Hare University. She received a telegram from Mandela on her 90th birthday, where he wrote that he would always remember her efforts to fight apartheid. Levson died on 7 October 2004.

Selected bibliography

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References

External links

Correspondence of Freda Levson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levson, Freda 1911 births 2004 deaths Writers from Pretoria South African women writers South African women activists Anti-apartheid activists Women civil rights activists Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford