“Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, ‘Yu, u nobunto’; ‘Hey so-and-so has ubuntu.’ Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, ‘My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.’ We belong in a bundle of life.”

—  Desmond Tutu
No Future Without Forgiveness, 2000

Desmond Tutu who died on December 26, 2021 at the age of ninety, was a South African Anglican bishop, author, and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and in 1986 he was elected archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa. In 1994, after the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was appointed as chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate apartheid-era crimes. His policy of forgiveness and reconciliation has become an international example of conflict resolution. He retired in 2010 and remained a much admired and revered figure on the world stage.