Iran Press/ Africa: Desmond Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, a farming town 100 miles (160km) southwest of Johannesburg. The sickly son of a headteacher and a domestic servant, he trained first as a teacher before becoming an Anglican priest.
As a cleric, he traveled widely, gaining an MA in theology from London University. Though she only emerged as a key figure in the liberation struggle in the mid-1970s, he was to have a huge impact, becoming a household name across the globe.
Excitable, emotional, charismatic, and highly articulate, Tutu won the Nobel peace prize in 1984. A vocal supporter of sanctions against South Africa, he was detested by supporters of the apartheid regime, who saw him as an agitator and traitor.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Desmond Tutu was an unparalleled patriot; a principled and pragmatic leader who gave meaning to the biblical insight that faith without deeds is dead.”
The president described him as “a man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility in the face of apartheid forces”
He added: “He was also soft and vulnerable in his compassion for those who suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and oppressed people around the world.”
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