Boesak, Allan Aubrey (1946-…), a South African clergyman, won world renown in the 1980’s for his opposition to apartheid. He was arrested several times for his political activities, but was also honored with international human rights awards.
Allan Aubrey Boesak was born on Feb. 23, 1946, in Kakamas, Cape Province. In 1968, he was ordained a minister in the Dutch Reformed Sendingkerk (Mission Church). He rose to become the president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (now the World Communion of Reformed Churches) in 1982. He served as senior vice president of the South African Council of Churches between 1984 and 1987. Boesak criticized the white Dutch Reformed Churches for supporting apartheid. He was responsible for a motion passed by the World Alliance declaring apartheid a heresy. In 1983, he helped to found the United Democratic Front, a mass movement opposing apartheid.
In 1999, Boesak was convicted of stealing money that had been donated to the Foundation for Peace and Justice, a charity he headed in the 1980’s. In 2001, after serving one year of a three-year jail sentence, he was released on parole. In 2005, South African President Thabo Mbeki pardoned Boesak.
