Donald Woods (journalist)

Donald Woods at the book launch of Biko in Schiphol, Netherlands (1978)

Donald Woods , CBE (born December 15, 1933 in Hobeni , Transkei , South Africa , † August 19, 2001 in London ) was a South African journalist and activist .

Live and act

Like most whites in South Africa, Donald Woods was a natural proponent of the apartheid system , but as a young student he changed his mind significantly. Originally a law student , he switched to journalism . In the early 1970s he met Steve Biko and through his intense friendship he became an advocate and activist of the South African anti-apartheid movement. As editor of the Daily Dispatch in East London (1965–1977) he worked in vain to initiate a dialogue between the government and the black movement around Steve Biko. After Steve Biko's death in September 1977, Woods, like Biko before, was banned for five years (house arrest, publication ban). When T-shirts prepared with acid were sent to him, he feared for the health of his family and fled to England via Lesotho . In the period after that he published books on Biko and continued to campaign for the abolition of apartheid in South Africa on lecture tours.

Woods' time with Biko and his escape from South Africa were by Richard Attenborough in 1987 released film Cry Freedom (English original title: Cry Freedom ) represented, with Kevin Kline as Woods and Denzel Washington as Biko.

Woods died of cancer on August 19, 2001 in London.

literature

• Donald Woods: Steve Biko. Scream for freedom. (OT: Biko ). German by Hans Jürgen Baron von Koskull and Oliver Stephan. Goldmann, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-442-08985-9 .
• John Briley : Freedom Cry. Novel based on its original script. (OT: Cry Freedom ). German by Sepp Leeb. 4th edition. Heyne, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-453-02836-8 .

Web links

• Donald Woods in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)