Miriam Makeba biography at QuotationFun

A Short Biography of Miriam Makeba

Author Name:

Miriam Makeba

Born As:

Zenzile Miriam Makeba.

Other Names:

Mama Afrika.

Born:

04 Mar 1932

Died:

11 Nov 2008




author picture
Singer and civil rights activist                          
                          
Mother was a Swazi sangoma. The Swazi are an Nguni-speaking people in southeastern Africa, chiefly in Swaziland and South Africa and some in Mozambique.
Father, who died when she was six, was a Xhosa. They are a people who are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country.

First husband Hugh Masekela
Second husband  Stokely Carmichael, also known as Kwame Ture - 1968

                          
                          
Three notable Xhosa: Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Desmond Tutu.

Miriam Makeba's South African passport was revoked when she tried to return there in 1960 for her mother's funeral. In 1963, after testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. She has had nine passports, and was granted honorary citizenship of ten countries.