{{Short description|South African anti-apartheid activist and writer (1939–2019)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Hugh Lewin''' (3 December 1939 – 16 January 2019)<ref name="Malec">{{cite web |last1=Malec |first1=Jennifer |title=Hugh Lewin, 1939–2019, RIP |url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2019/01/17/hugh-lewin-1939-2019-rip/ |website=Johannesburg Review of Books|date=17 January 2019|accessdate=24 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="guardian"/> was a South African anti-apartheid activist and writer. He was imprisoned from 1964 to 1971 for his activities in support of the African Resistance Movement, and then spent 20 years in exile, returning to South Africa in 1992. An account of his experience, ''Bandiet'' (Afrikaans: "bandit"), won the Olive Schreiner Prize in 2003.
==Early life== Lewin was born in Lydenburg, then in the Transvaal.<ref name="Malec"/> His parents were Anglican missionaries, William and Muriel (née Paynter).<ref name="guardian"/> His father, William, was the brother of Francis Lewin [http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Francis_Hutchinson_Laprimaudaye_Lewin], captain of the HMS Veronica, (and great grandfather to John Rees-Evans).
In London in the 1970s, Lewin discovered he had maternal Jewish ancestry, but he was not a practising Jew.<ref>Lewin, Hugh (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=NgZbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 ''Stones Against the Mirror: Friendship in the time of the South African Struggle''], Cape Town: Umuzi. Retrieved 24 February 2019.</ref>
He was educated at Rhodes University and then became a journalist at the ''Natal Witness'' in Pietermaritzburg, also writing for ''Drum'' magazine and ''Golden City Post'' in Johannesburg.<ref name="Malec"/>
==Anti-apartheid activism== He joined the Liberal Party in 1959.<ref name="guardian">Hain, Peter (21 January 2019), [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/21/hugh-lewin-obituary "Hugh Lewin obituary"], ''The Guardian''.</ref> Lewin was an anti-apartheid activist, and was imprisoned for seven years from July 1964 for his activities in support of the African Resistance Movement.<ref name="Malec"/> Evidence was given against him by his friends and fellow activists Adrian Leftwich (who had been best man at Lewin's wedding) and John Lloyd. After serving the full seven-year prison sentence in Pretoria Central Prison, he was given a "permanent departure permit" and left South Africa in 1971.<ref name="Malec"/>
==Exile== Lewin lived for 10 years each in London and Zimbabwe.<ref name="jacana">{{cite web|url=http://www.jacana.co.za/our-authors-46564/2273-hugh-lewin|title=Hugh Lewin|work=Jacana Media|accessdate=4 November 2017|archive-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121542/http://www.jacana.co.za/our-authors-46564/2273-hugh-lewin|url-status=dead}}</ref> In London, he was an information officer for the International Defence and Aid Fund, and also worked as journalist for ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian''. Moving to newly independent Zimbabwe in 1981, he was a founding member of the Dambudzo Marechera Trust.<ref name="Malec"/>
==Return to South Africa== He returned to South Africa in 1992, amid the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/history-facts/bandiet|website=brandsouthafrica.com|title=Hugh Lewin|date=4 April 2003|accessdate=4 November 2017|archive-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119174348/https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/history-facts/bandiet|url-status=dead}}</ref> He became of director of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism. He co-founded Baobab Press with Irene Staunton.<ref>Bookworm (22 June 2015), [https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2015/06/22/the-patriot-and-expatriots/ "The Patriot and expatriots"], ''The Standard'' (Zimbabwe).</ref> He worked for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a member of its Human Rights Violations Committee.<ref name="Malec"/>
He had kept a secret record of his experiences in prison on the pages of a Bible, and published ''Bandiet: Seven Years in a South African Prison'' in London in 1974 (the title ''Bandiet'' being Afrikaans for "bandit"). He also wrote the "Jafta" series of books for children and young adults. After being banned for many years, his 1974 prison memoir was republished in South Africa with new material in 2002, as ''Bandiet: Out of Jail'', illustrated by Harold Strachan. It won the 2003 Olive Schreiner Prize, and ''Stones against the Mirror'' won the 2011 ''Sunday Times'' Alan Paton Award.<ref name="jacana"/>
==Private life== Lewin first married fellow activist Elizabeth Pitman (later Franklin) and they both were active in Liberal Party of South Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levy |first=Norman |title=The Final Prize |year=2012 |isbn=9780987041111 |location=Cape Town |pages=Chapter 17}}</ref> He later married Pat Davidson, a solicitor. They had two daughters, Thandi and Tessa. They later divorced, and his partner for many years was Fiona Lloyd. He suffered with Lewy body dementia in his later years.<ref name="guardian"/> He died in Killarney, Johannesburg.<ref name="Malec"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Hugh}} Category:1939 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African writers Category:White South African anti-apartheid activists Category:South African prisoners and detainees Category:South African people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Liberal Party of South Africa politicians