NEVILLE ALEXANDER (1936-2012): Inspiring for the Commonwealth

As the 18th CCEM (Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers) was going on in Mauritius from 29th to 31st August, participants engaged in debates on language and education at the Swami Vivekananda Conference Centre held Neville in loving memory. Neville Alexander passed away on the 27th August 2102 after a short battle with cancer. Neville Edward Alexander (22 October 1936 – 27 August 2012) was a proponent of a multilingual South Africa. He was a former revolutionary who spent ten years on Robben Island as a fellow-prisoner of Nelson Mandela. I met him in 2008 during his short visit to Mauritius. We had a one hour conversation. That was enlightening and inspiring at that time in my work of national advocacy of Kreol Morisien and especially of a mother-tongue based curriculum alongside multilingual education. Neville held a BA in German and History (1955), MA in German (1956) and PhD (1961). His involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle started in 1957 when he became a member of the Cape Peninsula Students’ Union. From 1963 to 1974 he was imprisoned on Robben Island.