Bernstein, Hilda (1915–)
Bernstein, Hilda (1915–)
South African painter, memoirist and novelist. Born Hilda Watts, 1915, in London, England; moved to South Africa, 1933; dau. of Simeon Watts (Russian ambassador to UK) and Dora Watts; m. Rusty Bernstein (anti-apartheid activist).
Joined South African Communist Party (1940); served as a member of Johannesburg City Council and co-founded Transvaal Peace Council and Federation of South African Women; arrested (1946), placed under banning orders (1950s–60s), detained without trial (1960); after arrest of husband during Rivonia trial, fled with him on foot to Botswana and then moved to London; continued anti-apartheid work in London and on behalf of African National Congress's Women's League; began working as painter and graphic artist; writings include South Africa: The Terrorism of Torture (1972), For Their Triumphs and For Their Tears: Women in Apartheid South Africa (1978), No. 46—Steve Biko (1978), Death is Part of the Process (1983) and A Life of One's Own (2002). Received Lituli Silver Award for services assisting the foundation of a non-racial South Africa (2004).
See also political autobiography, The World That Was Ours (1967).