| Intro | South african doctor and anti-apartheid activist |
| Was |
Physician Activist Autobiographer |
| From | South Africa |
| Type |
Activism Healthcare Literature |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 1 January 1906 |
| Death |
1 January 1999 (aged 93 years) |
Kesaveloo Goonam, also known as Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo (1906-1999) was a South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist.
Early life and education
Kesaveloo Goonaruthnum Naidoo was born in Durban. Her mother Thangatchee Naidoo was from Mauritius, and her father R. K. Naidoo was born in India. She was raised speaking Tamil at home, but also attended an English-speaking school. Her parents’ social circles meant that she met Mohandas K. Gandhi, Annie Besant, Cissie Gool, and Monty Naicker and others as a girl. She went to medical school at the University of Edinburgh in 1928, and returned with her degree to South Africa in 1936.
Career
In Durban, she established a medical practice among black and Asian women, who came to know that “Dr. Goonam” would meet their needs, especially for reproductive healthcare, with understanding and discretion.
She was also active with the Natal Indian Congress, and was elected as the body’s vice president. She was jailed for four months in 1946 for her leadership in the Indian Passive Resistance Campaign, at her request: “I plead guilty and ask the court to impose the maximum sentence permitted by law,” she declared in court. It was the first of seventeen jail terms she served.
Her political activities continued, including hosting meetings of the Human Rights Welfare Committee in her medical offices; and after 1961 she left South Africa for England, for her own safety. She traveled during her exile, to Australia, India, and Zimbabwe. She returned to South Africa in 1990, after Nelson Mandela was released from prison. She voted in the 1994 South African elections. Also in 1994, she called for the disbanding of the Natal Indian Congress, saying “now is the time to go.”
She published her autobiography, Coolie Doctor, in 1991.
Personal life
Kesaveloo Goonam died in 1999, aged 92 years.