Charlotte Maxeke is Born
On this day, 7 April 1871, Charlotte Makgomo (née Mannya) Maxeke was born. Charlotte Maxeke was a social and political activist, religious leader, the first black woman to graduate with a university degree in South Africa and to graduate from an American university, a B.Sc. from Wilberforce University, Ohio, in 1903. She was founder of the Bantu Women’s League, which later became the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League.
Charlotte Makgomo (née Mannya) Maxeke was born in Ramokgopa, Pietersburg district (now Polokwane), the daughter of John Kgope Mannya, the son of headman Modidima Mannya from Batlokwa people, under Chief Mamafa Ramokgopa and Anna Manci, a Xhosa woman from Fort Beaufort. Charlotte’s father was a roads foreman and Presbyterian lay preacher, and her mother a teacher. Her grandfather served as a key adviser to the King of the Basotho. Soon after her birth, Charlotte’s family moved to Fort Beaufort, where her father was employed at a road construction company.
At age 8, she began her primary school classes at a missionary school in Uitenhage. She excelled in Dutch and English, mathematics and music. Charlotte’s musical prowess was visible at a young age. From Uitenhage, she moved to Port Elizabeth to study at the Edward Memorial School. She excelled and completed her secondary school education in record time, achieving the highest possible grades. In 1885, after the discovery of diamonds, Charlotte moved to Ki
