South African writer and activist Breyten Breytenbach, a fierce opponent of apartheid, died on Sunday in Paris at 85.
Born in 1939 in Bonnievale, Breytenbach celebrated Afrikaans as a literary language while rejecting its ties to apartheid’s white supremacy.
Exiled in the 1960s, he settled in Paris and became a global anti-apartheid voice. In 1975, he was arrested in South Africa on a secret trip supporting activists and spent seven years in prison.
His memoir, The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist (1984), detailed the horrors of incarceration and executions under apartheid.
A celebrated poet and painter, Breytenbach’s works earned him global accolades, including the Zbigniew Herbert Literary Award.
Critical of post-apartheid governance, he continued to champion justice through his art and literature until his death.
