Adrian Leftwich

Adrian Leftwich (1940- 2 April 2013) was a white South African student leader active in the early 1960s in the Anti-apartheid struggle. He came to Britain where he was a prominent academic in the Politics department at the University of York.

Family and personal

He died of lung cancer, four months after diagnosis, leaving a daughter and a son, Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

South Africa: "I gave the names"

Leftwich was best known among South African students of his generation for turning state evidence against his collaborators in a 1964 anti-apartheid bomb plot with the African Resistance Movement (ARM). He and a small group of fellow students blew up a Cape Town suburban railway signal cable after which he was detained on 4 July 1964. He collaborated with the police under threat of torture and other members of the movement were arrested.

While some of those arrested maintained bitter resentment against Leftwich, others made efforts to reconcile with him. Stephanie Kemp, who spent time in jail for her involvement in the bombing, stated on her Facebook page that she had "gone through a painful journey of reconciliation with him over 12 or more years. He was the same person, although he could never forget his fall almost 50 years ago. I remember him for his courage in taking on the apartheid state at such a young age and his fortitude in bearing the notoriety of stumbling in the face of enormous state repression." Author Hugh Lewin, who was also jailed for his role, wrote of his path to reconciliation with Leftwich in the book Stones Against the Mirror: Friendship in the Time of the South African Struggle.

Leftwich

Leftwich is a village in Cheshire, England. It lies just south of the town of Northwich, and is situated within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester.

Leftwich was historically a manor and township, comprising most of the area between the rivers Weaver and Dane. As well as encompassing the area around Davenham parish church, Leftwich also extended slightly to the north of the River Dane, including the site of the present Northwich Memorial Hall.

In 1894 the northern half of Leftwich, which since 1880 had formed part of the Northwich Local Board district, was added to the civil parish and urban district of Northwich. In 1936 Leftwich civil parish ceased to exist, and all of its population was transferred to the civil parish of Davenham; however, most of the same area was subsequently annexed to Northwich in 1955, following the post-war construction of a large housing estate at Leftwich Green by Northwich Urban District Council.

The village has two schools: Leftwich Community Primary School and The County High School, Leftwich.

Leftwich (surname)

Leftwich is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Leftwich (disambiguation)

Leftwich is a village in Cheshire, England.

Leftwich may also refer to: