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Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu was born on 20 October 1885 in King William's Town, Cape Colony. He received his early education at Lovedale and Morija Institution in Basutoland, where he learned southern Sotho, before completing his matriculation at a Quaker school in Colwyn Bay, Wales. In 1906 he entered the University of London, earning a BA in English in 1912. He subsequently obtained a teacher's certificate from Birmingham University and visited the Tuskegee Institute in the United States to study industrial education methods before returning to South Africa in 1915.
In 1916 Jabavu joined the staff of the newly established South African Native College, now the University of Fort Hare, as its first Black academic. He served as professor of Bantu studies and African languages, teaching Latin and African languages, and remained at the institution for more than thirty years until his retirement around 1944. Beyond his academic duties, Jabavu founded the South African Native Farmers' Association to promote improved agricultural practices and established the Cape African Teachers' Association and the South African Native Teachers' Federation, serving as president of the latter for many years. He was elected the first president of the All African Convention in 1936 and played a leading role in the South African Institute of Race Relations. His publications include The Black Problem (1920), The Segregation Fallacy and Other Papers (1928), The Life of John Tengo Jabavu (1922), and IziDungulwana (1958). In recognition of his contributions, Rhodes University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1953. Jabavu died on 3 August 1959 at Fort Hare.
Explore Nelson Mandela's university days at the University of Fort Hare, its pioneering role in black higher education, apartheid challenges, and modern resurgence in South Africa.
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