Desmond Tutu, South African anti- racial segregation icon who coined the popular term ” Rainbow Nation”, passes away at 90. Tutu was often portrayed as the country’s ethical compass, he also won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for combating white minority rule in South Africa.
On this sad occasion, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa stated, “The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa.”
Reportedly, during the late 1990s, Desmond Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer and in recent years he was often hospitalised to treat infections related to cancer he had. Tutu had coined the term “Rainbow Nation” to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president
Tutu was said to be one of the most impactful people behind the movement to end racial segregation and discrimination by the white minority government in South Africa from 1948 till the year 1991.
Before becoming the anti-apartheid activist, Tutu worked as a teacher, a job he quit in 1957 to join the church where later he was appointed as a priest in 1961. He also studied at St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg and King’s College London
