South African writer Breyten Breytenbach dies at the age of 85

South African writer Breyten Breytenbach, an emblematic figure in the fight against apartheid, died on Sunday in Paris at the age of 85.

Poet, writer and painter, Breytenbach left South Africa in the early 1960s to go into exile in France, where he continued his fight against the regime of racial segregation.

During his career, Breyten Breytenbach published around fifty books, including his most famous work, True Confession of an Albino Terrorist.

This story is inspired by his imprisonment in South Africa. He spent seven years in detention in his country after returning there illegally in 1975, including two years in solitary confinement, an ordeal which had a profound impact on his writing.

His arrest and imprisonment were linked to his support for Nelson Mandela’s then-banned African National Congress (ANC).

Then-French President François Mitterrand played a key role in Breyten Breytenbach’s release in 1982. After his release from prison, the writer returned to France, where he obtained French citizenship.

In addition to his stories, Breyten Breytenbach enriched world literature with numerous volumes of poetry, written mainly in Afrikaans, his mother tongue.