(born 1931). One of the first black leaders in South Africa, Desmond Tutu fought to end apartheid—a system that kept blacks separate from whites. Tutu, a priest, told his followers to protest peacefully against the white rulers of South Africa. In 1984 Tutu won the Nobel peace prize.

Early life

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, South Africa. His father was a teacher. Desmond wanted to be a doctor, but his family could not afford to send him to medical school.

In 1954 Tutu became a teacher. He taught for three years before going back to school to study religion. In 1961 he became a priest in the Anglican church. He then went to school in England and earned a Master of Theology degree.

Career

From 1972 to 1975 Tutu helped to direct the World Council of Churches. In 1975 he became dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the first black person to hold that position.

Tutu then started focusing his attention on the problem of apartheid in South Africa. Under apartheid, white leaders decided where black, Colored (mixed race), and Asian people could live, work, and go to school. Tutu wanted to end the unfair separation of the races. He wanted to win equal rights for all South Africans through nonviolent protests.

In 1978 Tutu became the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). The SACC worked for human rights and equality. While at that job Tutu published The Divine Intention (1982), a collection of his lectures. He also published a group of his sermons in the book Hope and Suffering (1983). Tutu won the Nobel peace prize in 1984 for his work with the SACC against apartheid.

In 1985 Tutu became the bishop of the Anglican church in Johannesburg. The next year he became the archbishop of Cape Town—the leader of all Anglicans in South Africa. He was the first black South African to hold both those posts. In 1988 Tutu also became chancellor (president) of the University of the Western Cape in Bellville, South Africa.

Voters elected Nelson Mandela as the first black president of South Africa in 1994. Apartheid had officially ended. The next year Mandela made Tutu the head of a committee that investigated human rights abuses under apartheid.

Tutu retired from his post of archbishop in 1996. He continued to serve as chancellor of the University of the Western Cape.