Alan Paton immortalised in Google Doodle
JOBURG – A tribute to renowned anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton will be the first thing Google users around the world will see on 11 January.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/01/Alan_Paton_59187_tn.jpg)
A tribute to renowned anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton will be the first thing Google users around the world see on 11 January.
The search engine is celebrating the South African author and activist with a new Google Doodle, marking what would have been Paton’s 115th birthday.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/01/image_59135_tn-520x354.jpg)
Photo: Google
A Google Doodle is an artistic expression of Google’s logo on its search engine homepage and celebrates noteworthy figures and events on a global scale.
Born in Durban in 1903, Paton became a noticeable figure in both the literary and political world through his writings and public addresses that spoke out against apartheid during the mid to late 1900s.
He wrote his first and most famous book titled Cry, The Beloved Country in 1948 which brought to light racial tensions in South Africa.
The book was praised worldwide and was adapted into two movies which were released in 1951 and 1995.
Paton passed away in 1988, only a few years before apartheid came to an end.