Sadie Forman (1929 – 11 December 2014) was a South African teacher, librarian and anti-apartheid activist.

Early life

Sadie Kreel was from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, the daughter of writer Bunim-Idel Krill, a Jewish immigrant from

Rokiškis Rokiškis () is a city in northeastern Lithuania with a population of about 14,400. History The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares ( Lit. "kiškis"). However, cities ending in "- ...

, Lithuania. Her father was a Yiddish-language poet and writer.

Career

Sadie Forman and her husband Lionel were active members of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

. Lionel was arrested for treason in 1956. As his wife, Sadie was under severe restrictions: under her banning order, she was not allowed to go far from her house, or to enter factories or schools, or work around other people. She made a living as a proofreader during this time.Terry Bell
"Resilient in the Struggle"
''Mail & Guardian'' (19 December 2014). In 1969 she was granted an exit permit and left South Africa with her three children. She worked as a teacher in London. In 1996 she returned to live in South Africa, settling in

Fort Hare Fort Hare was an 1835 British-built fort on a rocky outcrop at the foothills of the Amatola Mountains; close to the present day town of Alice, Eastern Cape in South Africa. History Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort in the wars between ...

, where she volunteered in the library at the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

, archiving the papers 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 ...

. In 2012, the university recognized her contribution with an honorary doctorate. She co-edited an edition of her husband's writings with

André Odendaal André Odendaal (born 4 May 1954) is a South African historian and former first-class cricketer. Education Odendaal attended Queen's College in Queenstown, Stellenbosch University, and St John's College, Cambridge, where he gained a PhD in His ...

, published in 1992. She also wrote a biography of her husband, ''Lionel Forman: A Life Too Short'' (2008).

Personal life

Sadie married Lionel Forman, a fellow child of Jewish immigrants, in 1952. They had three children, Karl, Frank and Sara, born before Lionel died in 1959, aged 32 years, from complications following a heart surgery performed by

Christiaan Barnard Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident-v ...

.Sue-Ann Levy
"Following in Mandela's Footsteps"
''Travel Africa'' (2004). In 2007 she moved to London for her health, and to be near her children. Sadie Forman died in 2014, aged 85 years, in England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman, Sadie 1929 births 2014 deaths Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African activists South African women activists White South African anti-apartheid activists South African schoolteachers People from Johannesburg South African people of Latvian-Jewish descent Women civil rights activists