Legum, Colin

Colin Legum was born in Kestall, Orange Free State, South Africa, on January 3, 1919. He began a career in journalism in 1935 and held successive positions as copy boy, senior crime reporter, political correspondent, editor, and newspaper founder. Legum became active in politics in 1938 as a member of the South African Labour Party. In 1949, because he saw no immediate future for his work or political views, Legum left South Africa to pursue his journalistic career in London. In 1953 he joined The Observer and became the Commonwealth correspondent. He helped to formulate the paper's anti-colonial policy and its militant stand against apartheid and racism. Legum resigned from the newspaper in 1984 when it was sold to a multi-national company. Legum was one of the founders of the Africa Bureau, the Africa Publications Trust, and the Africa Education Trust.