Description
Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. This book captures the history of the South African Ismaili families and some of the people among whom they lived from 1894, when the first Ismaili, Jeevan Keshavjee, left Kathiawad (Gujarat) and arrived in South Africa, up to 1994, when the country attained its multiparty democracy following the release of Nelson Mandela. It covers the growth of the greater family, and its dispersal first to Kenya, then to Canada, the UK, Portugal, the US, and elsewhere, and its many successes. It covers apartheid in South Africa and the family's contributions to the struggles against it; the colonial and postcolonial periods during which the family flourished in Africa; and finally the diasporic reality in which we find ourselves today.
Author Bio
Mohamed M. Keshavjee is a second generation South African of Indian origin. He is a graduate of Queen's University in Canada and attained his LLM and PhD degrees at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn, London. After leaving South Africa in 1962, Keshavjee lived in Kenya where he went to school and later practised law. For the past 30 years, he has lived in France working with the Aga Khan Development Network. He is a specialist in Alternative Dispute Resolution in cross-cultural contexts with a special emphasis on diasporic communities. He is a member of the EU team of International Family Mediators and has travelled extensively throughout the world. At present, he lives in Britain where he lectures at various universities.
Author City: LONDON ENG