James Cantor

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James "Jimmy" Kantor (born February 26, 1927 in Johannesburg , † 1974 in London ) was a South African lawyer and writer. He was arrested in 1963 in place of his brother-in-law and indicted in the Rivonia trial along with opposition members such as Nelson Mandela , but was subsequently acquitted. Financially ruined and in poor health, he left the country and died early.

Life

Kantor's parents were the lawyer Abraham Kantor and Pauline Kantor, née Braude. After graduating, Kantor ran a law firm in Johannesburg and was one of the most successful lawyers in Johannesburg. He worked mainly as a divorce lawyer, where he mostly represented the wife. In 1959 his brother-in-law, Harold Wolpe, became his partner, after which the firm was renamed James Kantor & Partners . Wolpe was a member of the South African Communist Party and supported the armed arm of the SACP and the African National Congress , Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu . Kantor was rather apolitical, but supported opposition members, for example by providing bail . In 1962 Kantor married the former model and actress Barbara.

Wolpe had acquired a house in Rivonia with funds from the chancellery - without the knowledge of Kantor - that served as the headquarters of the MK. On July 11, 1963, the house was stormed by the police . Wolpe was arrested and should be brought to justice together with other opposition members. Kantor was to act as Wolpe's defender. Wolpe fled abroad, whereupon Kantor himself was imprisoned in August and listed as Accused No. 8 was charged in the Rivonia trial alongside Mandela, Sisulu, and others. Kantor had his own defense team at the request of the defendants, including John Coaker and Harry Schwarz , who later worked for the other defendants. Prosecutor Percy Yutar not only accused Kantor of sabotage , but also accused him of deliberately misusing the law firm for subversive activities. Over Christmas 1963, Kantor was released on bail. Attempts to get him to testify against the co-defendants, he refused. In January 1964, during the trial, he asked Mandela to sponsor his first child. Mandela, who faced the death penalty , accepted. Kantor was finally acquitted, as there was no evidence of a connection between Kantor and the MK.

Kantor was financially ruined by the process; his health was weakened. He left South Africa and moved with his family to London, where he wrote publications for the film industry. In 1967 his autobiography A Healthy Grave was published. An Apartheid Prison Memoir (for example: "A healthy grave - memoirs from an apartheid prison"). He died in 1974 after a heart attack .

Works

  • A Healthy Grave. To Apartheid Prison Memoir. Hamish Hamilton, London 1967.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on August 14, 2014
  2. ↑ a b portraits of the eleven defendants at umkc.edu (English), accessed on August 14, 2014
  3. ↑ Bibliography at sahistory.org.za (English, PDF), accessed on August 14, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Cantor, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cantor, Jimmy (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African lawyer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg
DATE OF DEATH 1974
Place of death London