Last Updated: 06 May, 2024 | Views: 457
Age: 81
Profession: Writer
Other Profession(s): Academic, Screen Writer, African writer
Famous For: First Women Executive of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC)
Higher Education: Master's degree in Sociology
About (Profile/Biography):
Fatima Meer was born on August 12, 1928, and died on March 12, 2010. In addition to being a writer and academic, she was also a screenwriter and a prominent anti-apartheid activist. At 16, she raised £1000 for Bengal, India, famine relief in 1944. Durban Indian Girls High School was where she completed her education. Students mobilized to form the Student Passive Resistance Committee during her student days to raise funds for passive resistance campaigns in the Indian community.
Fatima Meer Alma mater:
• Bachelor's degree from the University of Natal
• Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Natal
Fatima Meer Career:
Fatima Meer as Political Activist
• In 1950, Meer and Kesaveloo Goonam became the first women elected to the NIC executive.
• As part of a group of 70 women, she helped form the Durban and District Women's League on October 4, 1952.
Fatima Meer Co-Founded Black Women's Federation (BWF)
• Winnie Mandela and Fatima Meer co-founded the Black Women's Federation (BWF) in 1975.
• It was Meer who was elected as the organization's first president
Fatima Meer Co-Founded Committee of Black Ratepayers Organizations
• During the 1980s, Meer founded the Multiracial Coordination Committee of Ratepayers Organizations.
• Motto: Oppose injustices that Durban municipality was causing to black townships.
Fatima Meer Charity work
• It was Fatima Meer who published the book Portrait of Indian South Africans in 1969 and donated the profit from its sale to the Gandhi Settlement in order to build the Gandhi Museum and Clinic.
• In 1979, she founded Tembalishe Tutorial College to teach secretarial skills to blacks at Gandhi's Phoenix home.
• Fatima Meer founded Clare Estate Environment Group: This group was founded in 1992 by Fatima Meer in response to rural migrants' and shack dwellers' needs.
Fatima Meer Family:
• Fatima Meer Husband: In 1950, Fatima Meer married Ismail Meer (her first cousin)
• Fatima Meer Son: Rashid who was died in a car accident
• Fatima Meer Daughters: Shehnaaz (A Land Claims Court judge); Shamin (social science consultant)
Fatima Meer Notable work:
• Higher Than Hope
• 1969: Portrait of Indian South Africans
• 1970: The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma
• 1976: Race and Suicide in South Africa
• 1985: Towards Understanding Iran Today
Fatima Meer Honour:
• 1975: Union of South African Journalists Award
• 1990: Imal Abdullah Haroon Award for the Struggle against Oppression and Racial Discrimination
• 1994: Vishwa Gurjari Award for Contribution to Human Rights
• 1999: Top 100 Women Who Shook South Africa list
• 2004: #45 Top 100 Great South Africans
• 2009: South African National Order: Order for Meritorious Service
• 2017: The Order of Luthuli in Silver
