Remembering Lorna,
a short history
Lorna de Smidt was a South African-born activist who fought against apartheid and racism. She was born in 1943 in Kensington, Cape Town to parents of mixed ancestry.
Lorna completed her graduation from Zonnebloem Teacher Training College in 1960 and subsequently became a teacher. In the 1960s, she became an anti-apartheid activist as part of the Black Consciousness Movement.
After the Soweto riots in 1976, she became a refugee in England and spent the rest of her life there. Between 1983 to 1991, de Smidt worked for the Lewisham Race Equality Unit.
From 2000 to 2005, she worked on a restoration project of South Africa House, at the South African Embassy, London. She died in 2022.
