Ronald Michael Segal (14 July 1932 – 23 February 2008) was a South African activist, writer and editor, founder of the anti-apartheid magazine '' Africa South'' and the Penguin African Library.Denis Herbstein
"Ronald Segal"
(obituary), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 26 February 2008.

Life

Ronald Segal was born on 14 July 1932, into a rich South African Jewish family. He was educated at Sea Point Boys' High School. After failing to gain entry to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, he studied at Cape Town University and then

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. Returning to South Africa in 1956, he founded the anti-apartheid magazine ''Africa South''. After the 1960

Sharpeville Massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...

he went into exile with

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Higher education Oliv ...

, and settled in England, continuing his anti-apartheid political activity and pursuing activity as a writer. Segal's best-known work is ''The State of the World Atlas'' (first edition, 1981), which he co-founded with

Michael Kidron Michael Kidron (20 September 1930 – 25 March 2003) was a British cartographer. He was one of the early founders of the International Socialists (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party; SWP) through the 1960s and 1970s, and the first edi ...

, another South African-born Jew, who shared most of his political views. After Segal was unbanned from South Africa, he visited the country several times, receiving a hero’s welcome on stage alongside

Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

, Tambo and Slovo in 1992. He died on 23 February 2008.

Works

* ''Tokolosh of the Townships'', 1960 * ''Political Africa: A Who’s Who of Personalities and Parties'', 1961 * ''African Profiles'', 1962 * ''Into Exile'', 1963 * ''Sanctions against South Africa'', 1964 * ''The Anguish of India'', 1965 * ''The Race War: The Worldwide Conflict of Races'', 1966 * ''America’s Receding Future'' * ''The Americans: A Conflict of Creed and Reality'', 1969 * ''The Struggle Against History'', 1971 * ''Whose Jerusalem? The Conflicts of Israel'', 1973 * ''Decline and Fall of the American Dollar'', 1974 * ''Southern Africa: New Politics of Revolution'', 1976 * ''Leon Trotsky: a biography'', 1979 * (with

) ''The State of the World Atlas'', 1981 * ''The Black Diaspora'', 1995 * ''Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora'', 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Ronald 1932 births 2008 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists White South African anti-apartheid activists South African magazine editors South African editors South African non-fiction writers South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of Sea Point High School