Portrait of Walter Sisulu

Birthday profile

Walter Sisulu

Walter Sisulu, South African politician (died 2003)

Born
May 18, 1912
Died
May 5, 2003
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1912

About Walter Sisulu

Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), he was Accused No.2 in the Rivonia Trial and was incarcerated on Robben Island where he served more than 25 years' imprisonment for his anti-Apartheid revolutionary activism. He had a close partnership with Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, with whom he played a key role in organising the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the establishment of the ANC Youth League and Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was also on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party. Sisulu was one of the first ANC leaders to push for a non-racial alliance, leading to cooperation with white and Indian activists like Joe Slovo and Ahmed Kathrada. In 1940, Sisulu joined the African National Congress (ANC), which had been founded in the year of his birth. Sisulu encouraged Mandela to join the ANC, occasionally contributed to his law school tuition, and introduced him to his first wife, Evelyn Mase, who was Sisulu's maternal relative. In 1943, together with Mandela and Oliver Tambo, he joined the ANC Youth League, founded by Anton Lembede, of which Sisulu was initially the treasurer.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Walter Sisulu timeline

  1. In 1940, Sisulu joined the African National Congress (ANC), which had been founded in the year of his birth.
  2. In 1943, together with Mandela and Oliver Tambo, he joined the ANC Youth League, founded by Anton Lembede, of which Sisulu was initially the treasurer.
  3. Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), he was Accused No.2 in the Rivonia Trial and was incarcerated on Robben Island where he served more than 25 years' imprisonment for his anti-Apartheid revolutionary activism.

The world when Walter Sisulu was born

Walter Sisulu was born in 1912. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1912

  • Best-selling book"The Harvester" – Gene Stratton-Porter

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJim Thorpe wins two gold medals at the Stockholm Olympics
  • Top headlineRMS Titanic sinks on maiden voyage — 1,500+ die
  • Technology milestoneFirst parachute jump from an airplane
  • World population~1.72B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam Howard Taft
  • U.S. population94.6M

1912 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Walter Sisulu's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19122026
Population94.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.