Never Heard of Her? Robben Island Did

Navi Pillay has been named the Nobel Peace laureate.

The award follows her career of legal work in South Africa and internationally. In 1967, she became the first Black woman to open a private law practice in Natal. During a Terrorism Act trial in 1971, she served on a defense team that exposed unlawful interrogation and torture methods.

Pillay also secured the right for political prisoners on Robben Island, including Nelson Mandela, to access lawyers in 1973. This work resulted in the apartheid government denying her a passport for several years. In 1995, she became the first woman of color appointed to South Africa’s High Court. She later served eight years on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.