Guthrie Michael Scott (30 July 1907 – 14 September 1983) was an

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and anti-apartheid activist, who joined in the defiance of the apartheid system in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

in the 1940s – a long struggle for social justice in that country. He was also an early advocate of

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nucle ...

Life

Scott was born in Sussex on 30 July 1907 and educated at

King's College, Taunton (Strong and faithful) , established = 1880 , closed = , type = Independent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, Chichester Theological College and St Paul's College, Grahamstown. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

by George Bell in 1932 and began his career with curacies in Slaugham and Kensington. He was Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop of Bombay from 1935 to 1937; and then served at St Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta. In 1943 he moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

where he was

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to the St Alban's Mission. While there he became the first white man to be jailed for resisting that country's racial laws. In 1952, he co-founded the Africa Bureau, "an organisation to advise and support Africans who wished to oppose by constitutional means political decisions affecting their lives and futures imposed by alien governments." He was a leading international promoter of Namibian independence along with Chief

Hosea Kutako Chief Hosea Katjikururume Komombumbi Kutako (1870 – 18 July 1970), was an early Namibian nationalist leader and a founder member of Namibia's first nationalist party, the South West African National Union (SWANU). "During his life, he ex ...

and Captain Hendrik Samuel Witbooi. For his efforts in the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angola ...

, he has a prominent street named after him in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

. With

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...

, he was co-founder of the Committee of 100 in 1960. He met Martin Luther King Jr. during Ghana's celebration of independence. Kingston near Lewes, St Pancras Church, Michael Scott window

Kingston near Lewes, St Pancras Church, Michael Scott window

In later life, Scott was a friend of the philosopher

. He died on 14 September 1983. There is a memorial window to him at St Pancras Church, Kingston near Lewes.

Works

Scott wrote an autobiography ''A Time to Speak'', published by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

in 1958.

Notes

References

1907 births 1983 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Chichester Theological College British anti-war activists British expatriates in South Africa English anti–nuclear weapons activists English religious writers History of Namibia Anglican anti-apartheid activists People educated at King's College, Taunton People from Crawley South West African anti-apartheid activists St Paul's College, Grahamstown alumni {{AntiApartheid-activist-stub