Samuel Clement Nolutshungu (15 April 1945 – 12 August 1997) was one of the foremost

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

n scholars, and an internationally acclaimed expert on South African politics. Born in

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South ...

in 1945, he studied first in the Lovedale High School and after in 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 ...

. Because of

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 ...

he left in the 1960s South Africa for

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, and thanks to a

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went to

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

where he obtained a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in economics, history and politics. He successively taught in the Government Department of

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

between 1978 and 1990. From 1991 till his death he was professor of political science and African politics at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

, and since 1995 also acting director of the university's Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies. In December 1996 he had been offered the most important position in the South African university system, the vice-chancellorship of the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, but was forced to turn down the offer in January due to a

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that brought to his death in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

on 12 August. Nolutshungu produced a high number of significant articles, and published three books. His first book, ''South Africa in Africa: a study in ideology and foreign policy'', published in 1975, was his doctoral

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

; this work is considered to be the first major study of South African politics by a

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South African. It was followed in 1982 by another work on South African politics, ''Changing South Africa: political considerations'', an analysis of the prospects for non-violent transition to a non-racial society. The study obtained the

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 Dem ...

Sunday Times' Book of the Year Award. His last major work was ''Limits of anarchy: intervention and state formation in Chad'', written in 1996, which examined Chadian modern history with the intention of exploring the dilemmas that involve "fictive states", i.e. countries which have to endure a fitful existence between too much and too little government.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nolutshungu, Sam South African academics University of Fort Hare alumni Alumni of Keele University Academics of the University of Manchester University of Rochester faculty 1945 births 1997 deaths People from Qonce