Alan Paton

Alan Paton was born on 11 January 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, in Natal, and studied at the University of Natal. A teacher at Ixopo, then at Pietermaritzburg, from 1935 he ran the Diepkloof reformatory, where he introduced progressive reforms, open dormitories and visits to families. A co-founder in 1953 of the Liberal Party, which he later led, he saw it dissolved in 1968 by a law that banned parties open to all races; his passport, confiscated in 1960, was returned to him only ten years later. He died on 12 April 1988.

In the catalogue 1

• NovelCry, the Beloved CountryAlan Paton · 1948Literature