Peter Abrahams | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Photo of Abrahams byCarl Van Vechten, 1955 | |
| Born | Peter Henry Abrahams Deras (1919-03-03)3 March 1919 Vrededorp,Transvaal,Union of South Africa |
| Died | 18 January 2017(2017-01-18) (aged 97) Saint Andrew Parish,Jamaica |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist, political commentator |
| Nationality | South African and Jamaican |
| Notable works | Mine Boy (1946) Tell Freedom (1954) A Wreath for Udomo (1956) |
Peter Henry Abrahams Deras (3 March 1919 – 18 January 2017), commonly known asPeter Abrahams, was a South African-born novelist, journalist and political commentator who in 1956 settled inJamaica, where he lived for the rest of his life.[1] His death at the age of 97 is considered to have been murder.[2]
Abrahams was born in 1919 inVrededorp, a suburb ofJohannesburg, South Africa; his father was fromEthiopia and his mother wasColoured, with French and African roots.[3] Abrahams was five years old when his father died, and with his family thereafter struggling financially his mother sent him to live with relatives until the age of 11, when he became a boarding student at the Anglican Church's Grace Dieu School inPietersburg.[4] On graduation from there, he went to St Peter's Secondary School inRosettenville, paying his tuition fees by working at theBantu Men's Social Centre.[3]
In 1939, Abrahams left South Africa, and worked first as a sailor, and then settled inLondon, where he was a journalist. While working in London, Abrahams lived with his wife Daphne inLoughton, whilst meeting several important black leaders and writers.
Hoping to make his way as a writer, he faced considerable challenges as a South African, as Carol Polsgrove has shown in her history,Ending British Rule: Writers in a Common Cause (2009). Despite a manuscript reader's recommendation against publication, in 1942Allen & Unwin brought out hisDark Testament, made up mostly of pieces he had carried with him from South Africa. PublisherDorothy Crisp published his novelsSong of the City (1945) andMine Boy (1946). According to Nigerian scholar Kolawole Ogungbesan,Mine Boy became "the first African novel written in English to attract international attention."[5] More books followed with publication in Britain and the United States: two novels —The Path of Thunder (1948) andWild Conquest (1950); a journalistic account of a return journey to Africa,Return to Goli (1953); and a memoir,Tell Freedom (1954).[6]
In 1945, Abrahams helped to organised the fifthPan-African Congress which took place inManchester and is today regarded as a turning point within the independence struggle. In attendance at the event were names likeKwame Nkrumah,Hastings Banda,Jomo Kenyatta andW. E. B. Du Bois.[7]In 1956, Abrahams published aroman à clef about the political community of which he had been a part in London:A Wreath for Udomo. His main character, Michael Udomo, who returns from London to his African country to preside over its transformation into an independent, industrial nation, appeared to be modelled chiefly on Nkrumah with a hint of Kenyatta. Other identifiable fictionalized figures includedGeorge Padmore. The novel concluded with Udomo's murder. Published the year before Nkrumah took the reins of independentGhana,A Wreath for Udomo was not an optimistic forecast of Africa's future.[8]
Abrahams is commemorated by ablue plaque on his formercouncil house in Jessel Drive inLoughton, London installed in 2020.
In 1956, Abrahams settled inJamaica,[9] where he continued novels and memoirs, also working as a journalist and radio commentator.[3] In 1994 he was awarded theMusgrave Gold Medal for his writing and journalism by theInstitute of Jamaica.[10]
Abrahams was found dead at his home inSaint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, on 18 January 2017, aged 97.[11][12][13][14] A forensic examination showed that Abrahams was a victim of foul play. A local 61-year-old man, Norman Tomlinson, was later charged with murder.[15] Court proceedings began in March 2017 after a delay due to a lengthy power outage in the court house;[16] and on 7 October 2018, having pleaded guilty to manslaughter, Tomlinson was jailed for seven years.[17]
Peter Abrahams is one of South Africa's most prominent writers,[18] his works dealing with political and social issues, especially withracism. His novelMine Boy (1946), one of the first works to bring him to critical attention,[19] and his memoirTell Freedom (1954)[20] deal in part withapartheid.[21] His other works include the story collectionDark Testament (1942) and the novelsThe Path of Thunder (1948, which inspired botha ballet of the same name and the operaReiter der Nacht byErnst Hermann Meyer),A Wreath for Udomo (1956),A Night of Their Own (1965), the Jamaica-setThis Island Now (1966, the only one of his novels not set in Africa) andThe View from Coyaba (1985). His memoirThe Coyaba Chronicles was published in 2000.
