Benedict Wallet Vilakazi
Benedict Wallet Vilakazi (6 January 1906 – 26 October 1947) was a South African novelist, linguist, a descendant of the Zulu royal family, and a radically innovative poet who created a combination of traditional and Romantic poetry in the Zulu language. Vilakazi was also a professor at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became the first Black South African to teach University classes to White South Africans. In 1946, Vilakazi also became the first Black South African to receive a PhD.
Benedict Wallet Vilakazi | |
|---|---|
Bambatha kaMshin | |
| Born | 6 January 1906 |
| Died | 26 October 1947 (aged 41) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Alma mater | University of South Africa University of Witwatersrand |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Poetry, linguistics |
| Institutions | University of Witwatersrand |
| Thesis | Oral and written literature in Nguni. |
| Doctoral advisor | CM Doke |
Vilakazi Street along which the poet lived in the formerly segregated township of Soweto, is named after Benedict Vilakazi. Vilakazi Street is now very famous as the street where both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu also once lived.
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