Moses Kotane

Moses Mauane Kotane (9 August 1905 – 19 May 1978) was a South African politician and activist. Kotane was secretary general of the South African Communist Party from 1939 until his death in 1978.

Biography

Early life

Kotane was born in Tamposstad/Matlhako/Pellain Maphusumaneng Section, Transvaal (now North West) to a devout Christian family of Botswana origins. He received little formal schooling prior to entering the workforce. In 1922 at the age of 17, Kotane began his working in Krugersdorp, where he worked in various jobs including as a photographer's assistant, domestic servant, miner, and bakery worker.

Trade unionism and early party politics

In 1928, Kotane joined the African National Congress but left it, considering it weak and ineffectual. Later that year he joined the African Bakers Union, an affiliate of the new Federation of Non-European Trade Unions then being built by SACP. Kotane joined SACP a year later in 1929, soon becoming a member of the party's politburo. In 1931, he became a full time functionary of SACP. Within the Communist Party, Kotane worked on Umsebenzi, the party's newspaper. As a promising young party member, Kotane was sent to Moscow to study Marxism-Leninism at the International Lenin School. In Moscow, Kotane studied under Endre Sík, 1967 recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and other Marxist theorists. Returning to South Africa in 1933, Kotane advanced through the Party until the point where he became the party's general secretary in 1939.

Moses

Moses (/ˈmoʊzɪz, -zɪs/;Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה‎, Modern Moshe Tiberian Mōšéh ISO 259-3 Moše; Syriac: ܡܘܫܐ‎ Moushe; Arabic: موسى‎ Mūsā; Greek: Mωϋσῆς Mōÿsēs in both the Septuagint and the New Testament) is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was a former Egyptian prince who later in life became a religious leader and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. The historical consensus is that Moses is not an historical figure. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, lit. "Moses our Teacher"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism. He is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, Baha'ism as well as a number of other faiths.

According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites, an enslaved minority, were increasing in numbers and the Egyptian Pharaoh was worried that they might ally with Egypt's enemies. Moses' Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaoh's daughter (identified as Queen Bithia in the Midrash), the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster (because the slavemaster was smiting a Hebrew), Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he encountered the God of Israel speaking to him from within a "burning bush which was not consumed by the fire" on Mount Horeb (which he regarded as the Mountain of God).

Moses (given name)

Moses or Moshe is a male given name, after the biblical figure Moses.

According to the Torah, the name "Moses" comes from the Hebrew verb, meaning "to pull/draw out" [of water], and the infant Moses was given this name by Pharaoh's daughter after rescuing him from the Nile (Exodus 2:10). Some scholars have suggested that the name was derived from the Egyptian word for "son" rather than from Hebrew.

People with this name

Ancient times:

Medieval:

Moses (song)

"Moses" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their live album, Coldplay Live 2003. The song was released on 6 October 2003 as the only single from the album.

Background

The song was written about lead singer Chris Martin's then wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. Martin has said that the song is "about falling in love with the most beautiful woman in the world." The song's title later served as the namesake for the couple’s second child, Moses Bruce Anthony Martin. It was written in mid-2002 during the A Rush of Blood to the Head sessions but it got rejected.

Personnel

Track listing

Chart performance

Release history

References