South Africa's Archbishop Tutu dies at 90

An extraordinary life - 17th January 2022

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has died at the age of 90. The Christian leader spent his life fighting against racism. He passed away on 26th December 2021.

Messages of respect came from around the world. The Nelson Mandela Foundation called him "an extraordinary human being."

Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 into a Christian family. His father was a teacher and he also joined the profession. But South Africa introduced a racist education law which separated Black and white students. Tutu resigned as a teacher and trained to be a priest.

As a priest, Tutu spoke against racism. South Africa's racist system was 'apartheid'. Black people had to live, work and study separately from white people. Tutu used his voice to fight against this situation.

In 1984, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Then in 1986, he was made the first Black Archbishop of Cape Town. Archbishop Tutu continued to fight against apartheid and was almost put in prison. He was gassed when police attacked a church. And police arrested him at a demonstration.

Archbishop Tutu continued his fight after Nelson Mandela became South Africa's new president. His hope for a "rainbow nation", where everyone was welcome, was his life's work.