John Langalibalele Dube

John Langalibalele Dube (11 February 1871 – 11 February 1946) was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), which became the African National Congress in 1923. Dube served as SANNC president between 1912 and 1917. Dube was brought to America by returning missionaries and attended Oberlin College. He returned to South Africa where he and his first wife, Nokutela Dube, founded a newspaper and what is now Ohlange High School

Early life

Dube was born in Natal at the Inanda mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZM), a branch of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His father, the Rev. James Dube, was one of the first ordained African pastors of the AZM. Dube began his formal education in Inanda and Adams College, Amanzimtoti.

The Reverend William Cullen Wilcox was called in to talk to Dube who was misbehaving at the Adams School. His father James Dube was then the Congregational minister at Inanda.