Recovering the lives of African women leaders in South Africa: the case of Nokutela Dube

Chapter examines the life and achievements of Nokutela Dube (c. 1872-1917), first wife of the founding president of the African National Congress of South Africa, John Dube. it argues that she was a significant leader in her own right, in educational, religious and cultural spheres, and an original and progressive thinker of her time. She was widely-travelled, visiting the United States and Britain a number of times. After her death in 1917, she was long-forgotten; the chapter includes an account of how her life has been (re)discovered and memorialised.