Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu (20 October 1885 – 3 August 1959)"Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu", ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
/ref> was a Xhosa educationist and politician, and a founder of the All African Convention (AAC), which sought to unite all non-European opposition to the segregationist measure of the South African government.''Makers of Modern Africa'', London: Africa Journal Ltd, pp. 227–28. He was the eldest son of political activist and pioneering newspaper editor

John Tengo Jabavu John Tengo Jabavu (11 January 1859 – 10 September 1921) was a political activist and the editor of South Africa's first newspaper to be written in Xhosa. Early life John Tengo Jabavu was born on 11 January 1859 near Healdtown in the Cap ...

, and the father of Noni Jabavu, one of the first African female writers and journalists.

Biography

Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu was born in

King Williams Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. It has a population of around 35,000 inhab ...

, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

, South Africa, and was educated at Morija Institution, a mission centre in Basutoland (present-day

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

). He later studied at Lovedale in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

before going to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he completed his matriculation at

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In 1906 he entered the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, earning a BA degree in English six years later. As a student he attended the 1911 Universal Races Congress held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he met leading African Americans and Africans, including his father, who was a member of the South African delegation. Before returning home in 1915, D. D. T. Jabavu visited the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on a tour of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

and other black centres of learning. Back in South Africa, he was a founding member of the staff of the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

in 1916, and the first and only African academic at the institution,"Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu"
South African History Online. where he remained as professor of African languages until 1944. In addition, he established the South African Native Farmers' Association to encourage the development of better farming standards, stressing the value of manual labour. He also founded the Cape African Teachers' Association and the South African Native Teachers' Federation, which he led for many years. He was also president of the Cape Native Votes' Convention, which campaigned in the 1920 and 1930 for the retention of Africans' voting rights. In 1936, he was elected first president of the All African Convention (AAC), which sought to consolidate all non-European opposition to the proposed abolition of the African vote; the AAC's stance was subsequently construed as damaging by some radical elements in the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC). However, in 1948, the year that Jabavu retired from public life, he was a signatory to a joint ANC-AAC "Call for Unity", which attempted to reconcile their differences. The move was not successful, and Jabavu retired from its presidency. In later years, he ran a private insurance business. He also wrote articles and books on the African struggle, including ''The Black Problem'' (1920), ''The Segregation Fallacy and Other Papers'' (1928), ''The Life of John Tengo Jabavu, editor of Imvo Zabantsundu'' (1922) and ''IziDungulwana'' (1958). In recognition of his contribution towards the creation of a just South African society, in 1953 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

. He died six years later in 1959, aged 73.

Biography

References

Further reading