Mazisi Kunene

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He became a staunch supporter for the preservation of traditional Zulu poetic traditions as he grew older, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Zulu and history from the University of Natal, as well as a Master of Arts in Zulu Poetry. Kunene was born in Durban, South Africa, and began writing poems and short stories in Zulu as a child - by the age of 11, he had been published in local newspapers. Mazisi Kunene was a South African poet best known for ‘Emperor Shaka the Great’, an epic poem based on the Zulu oral tradition, compiled in the Zulu language and then translated to English by Kunene himself.

Google Doodle is celebrating the life of Mazisi Kunene, who became an icon of African literature after he was forced to flee his native South Africa during ...

Here we take a closer look at who he was. At university, his postgraduate thesis discussed the dilution of Zulu culture in Western literature and by the time apartheid began in South Africa he was in a position to use his work so far to oppose the vile divide. The Doodle shows Mazisi going about his work, for which he gained fame as a figure in the opposition to the Apartheid regime in South Africa, his home nation.

Mazisi Kunene was born on May 12, 1930, in Durban, a South African province now called KwaZulu-Natal. Kunene began writing poetry in the Zulu language as a ...

At this time, he was also a cultural advisor to UNESCO. He continued to write in exile, and his work is known for exploring South African culture, religion and history, especially in the context of colonialism, apartheid and slavery. Growing up, he became an advocate for preserving Zulu poetic traditions.

His work explores his nation's culture, religion and history in the context of colonialism, apartheid and slavery. Mazisi Kunene was a South African poet ...

He later also became the first poet laureate of democratic South Africa. By age 11, he was publishing his writings in local newspapers and magazines. He wrote some of his seminal works in the UK, where he fled into exile after the South African government violently repressed the resistance movement.

A doodle of the anti-apartheid activist was put on the company's homepage on Thursday morning highlighting his work in resisting the racist apartheid ...

A doodle of the anti-apartheid activist was put on the company's homepage on Thursday morning highlighting his work in resisting the racist apartheid regime. A doodle of the anti-apartheid activist was put on the company's homepage on Thursday morning highlighting his work in resisting the racist apartheid regime. Mazisi Kunenes poetry was so powerful that the apartheid government originally banned his work in South Africa. Still, he became South Africas first poet laureate.Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles)

Today's Google is dedicated to anti-apartheid campaigner Mazisi Kunene, who would have turned 92 today.

He returned to South Africa once apartheid ended, where he resumed his writing in Zulu and was named Poet Laureate in 1993. His postgraduate thesis at university examined the dilution of Zulu culture in Western literature, and by the time apartheid broke out in South Africa, he was in a position to employ what he had learned thus far to fight the terrible division. He’s from Durban, South Africa’s third largest city, and at the age of 11 he was contributing poetry and short tales to his local newspaper.