Tutu biography book

Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, has died on Sunday at the age of 90.

An uncompromising foe of apartheid, South Africa’s brutal regime of oppression again the Black majority, Tutu worked tirelessly, though non-violently, for its downfall.

Here is a timeline of Tutu’s life:

1931: Tutu is born in Klerksdorp, a town around 170km (105 miles) west of Johannesburg.

1943: Tutu’s Methodist family joins the Anglican Church.

1947: Tutu falls ill with tuberculosis while studying at a secondary school near Sophiatown, Johannesburg.

He befriends a priest and serves in his church after recovering from illness.

1948: The white National Party launches apartheid in the run-up to 1948 national elections. It wins popular support among white voters who want to maintain their dominance over the Black majority.

1955: Tutu marries