Helen Suzman Quotes

Helen Suzman was born in Germiston, South Africa. She was a South African politician. She studied as an economist and statistician at Witwatersrand University. She was elected to the House of Assembly in 1953 as a member of the United Party for the Houghton constituency in Johannesburg. Suzman and eleven other liberal members of the United Party broke away to form the Progressive Party in 1959. At the 1961 general election all the other Progressive MPs lost their seats, leaving Suzman as the sole parliamentarian unequivocally opposed to apartheid for thirteen years from 1961 to 1974. She spent a total of 36 years in parliament. She was awarded 27 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received countless other awards from religious and human rights organizations around the world.