He’s probably the most beloved living South African the world over, so the world is showing him a lot of love today, his 83rd birthday.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a Nobel Prize-winning social rights activist, retired Anglican bishop and all-round fantastic human being who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid.
He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and bishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Since the end of apartheid Tutu has been active in the defence of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed.
He has campaigned to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning, homophobia and transphobia.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
Most recently he’s criticized the South African government for allegedly denying a visa to his friend and fellow Nobel laureate Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
