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Helen Joseph

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Advocate

The Resume

    (April 8, 1905-December 25, 1992)
    Born in Easebourne, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Helen Fennell
    Settled in South Africa (1931)
    Became an anti-apartheid activist
    Founding member of the Congress of Democrats (1952) and Federation of South African Women (1954)
    Led a march of 20,000 women to the Presidential residence in Pretoria to protest restrictive pass laws (August 9, 1956)
    One of 156 activists arrested for high treason (1956)
    Found not guilty (1961)

Why she might be annoying:

    During her first years in South Africa, she was a socialite: 'She was known as beautiful and flighty, leading a life of wining and dining and bridge parties.'
    Her response to criminal allegations against Winnie Mandela was 'I know Winnie. She would not do such things.'
    She tried to persuade Nelson Mandela to not negotiate with South African President F.W. De Klerk.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She became a social worker after WWII and was exposed to the racial inequities in South Africa, triggering her activism.
    She was repeatedly placed under house arrest.
    After he first house arrest ended, she traveled 8,000 miles through South Africa to locate the 'forgotten people,' anti-apartheid activists who had been banished to remote rural areas.
    When Nelson and Winnie Mandela were both in jail, she served as a foster parent to their daughters, Zenzi and Zenani.
    She survived bullets shot through her bedroom window and a bomb wired to her front gate.
    She said, 'How a weary old girl, an old auntie like me, can be a threat to state security, only they can say.'
    The anniversary of the 1956 protest march she led is celebrated as South African Women's Day.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 17 Votes: 5.88% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 56 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying