Susan Dangarembga
Susan Dangarembga (1926 – 2017) was a Zimbabwean educator. She was the first black woman in colonial Southern Rhodesia to earn a university degree.[1] She is the mother of novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga.
Susan Dangarembga | |
|---|---|
| Born | Susan Ngonyama  1926 |
| Died | 2017 (aged 90–91) Zimbabwe |
| Alma mater | |
| Children | Tsitsi Dangarembga |
Susan Ngonyama was born in 1926, the daughter of a Christian minister.[2] She attended Goromonzi High School and took her O-Level in 1950, scoring the highest in the country among both black and white students. In her eulogy, Arthur Mutambara said "Without firing a single shot, going to detention or organising political resistance, as a high school student in 1950, Susan scored a major victory for the freedom and liberation of Zimbabwe."[3]
She attended Fort Hare University in South Africa and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1953.[2][3] In the early 1960s, she and her husband earned master's degrees from University College, London.[4] They returned to Zimbabwe where she was a teacher and her husband the headmaster of Hartzell High School.[3]
In 1983, she was the first female Public Service Commissioner in Zimbabwe. [2][3]
Susan Dangarembga died in 2017 in Zimbabwe at the age of 91.[2]
Personal life
[edit]She married her classmate and future educator Amon Dangarembga and their daughter Tsitsi was born in 1959.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Charumbira, Ruramisai (2024-05-22), "Women in Zimbabwe", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1506, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 2025-02-10
- ^ a b c d Johnson, Elizabeth Ofosuah (2019-06-06). "Susan Dangarembga, Zimbabwe's first black woman to earn a degree". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
- ^ a b c d e Standard, The. "Tribute to Susan Dangarembga: A true visionary". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
- ^ Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (2022-09-14). "Tsitsi Dangarembga: "People started pointing fingers at me, saying 'She's a Western puppet!'"". New Statesman. Retrieved 2025-02-10.