Florida State University will host Albie Sachs, renowned human rights activist, writer and former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the week of Oct. 27, for an event sharing his experience as an anti-apartheid freedom fighter and a pivotal figure in South African history.
The event will include a film screening, lecture, book signing and more.
Born and raised in South Africa under an apartheid government, which maintained a system of legalized segregation, Sachs’ notable career defending those charged under repressive security laws and statutes led to him being appointed to South Africa’s new Constitutional Court, where he helped rewrite the country’s bill of rights and was a key part of the post-apartheid transition.
“Albie has devoted his life to establishing and preserving democracy, equality and justice,” said Matthew Goff, distinguished research professor of religion, director of graduate studies in the Department of Religion, and the event’s co-organizer. “He showed his commitment to these ideas in a way that represents the importance of the values we respect and honor.”
Sachs earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Cape Town in 1956 and started practicing as an advocate at the Cape Bar at the age of 21. While defending others, Sachs was incarcerated without trial and placed in solitary confinement by the security branch of the South African Police.
“Albie Sachs is a living legend. Rather than seek a violent retribution, he has devoted his life to changing the fundamental conditions for democratic life in South Africa.”
— Joseph Hellweg, associate professor of religion, event co-organizer
In 1966, Sachs was forced to flee his home country and went into exile in England. A few years later, he received his doctorate focused on the South African legal system from the University of Sussex in 1971. He then moved to Maputo, Mozambique, in 1977 to become a law professor at Eduardo Mondlane University.
After surviving an explosion in 1988 from a bomb placed in his car by South African security agents — which caused him to lose an arm and the sight in one eye — he devoted himself full-time to building a new democratic constitution for South Africa.
“Albie Sachs is a living legend,” said associate professor of religion and event co-organizer Joseph Hellweg. “Rather than seek a violent retribution, he has devoted his life to changing the fundamental conditions for democratic life in South Africa.”
Sachs returned to South Africa in 1990 and continued his work with the Constitutional Committee and the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress. He was appointed to the new Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela after the country’s first democratic election in 1994. “Soft Vengeance,” a term coined by Sachs and the title of his documentary film, represents his efforts to eschew violence and rebuild a peaceful and just South Africa post-apartheid.
“For Albie, revenge meant reconstructing a society founded on laws that represented everyone,” Goff said. “As a judge, he helped write the Bill of Rights and tackled very technical questions about how to institutionalize justice. ‘Soft Vengeance’ means acting in the interest of all.”
The Askew Student Life Cinema will screen “Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa,” chronicling Sachs’ fight to end apartheid, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 5-7 p.m. Refreshments will be available at 4:30 p.m. Afterward, executive director of the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human rights and Associate Professor of Criminology Terry Coonan and Professor of Philosophy Simon May will lead a discussion session with Sachs.
On Thursday, Oct. 30, Sachs will deliver “Presidents and Power: How South Africa’s Highest Court Held Nelson Mandela and Two Other Presidents Accountable to the Constitution,” as part of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy Ruth K. and Shepard Broad International Lecture Series. The lecture will be held from 5-6:30 p.m. at the College of Medicine Auditorium. A reception will precede the talk at 4:30 p.m. and a book signing will follow. Both events are free and open to the public.
“Albie wasn’t just an observer — he was a participant in the events he’ll be speaking about, and he played a central role in the post-apartheid transition,” Hellweg said. “His visit underscores the importance of international studies at American universities. Students will be enriched by an introduction to another English-speaking part of the world that has a very different experience of democracy than the United States, one from which we can learn.”
Sachs’ visit is sponsored by FSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, the FSU Department of Religion, the FSU Department of Philosophy, the FSU College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, the FSU College of Law, the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, and the Office of the Provost.
Please contact Matthew Goff, mgoff@fsu.edu, or Joseph Hellweg, jhellweg@fsu.edu, with questions.