‘Mrs Sisulu's Husband’: Subversion of Gender Roles in an African Marriage

Abstract

Most biographies about great leaders of the struggle have focused on the public persona and have revealed little about gender relations or the domestic spaces of their lives. In this unique lecture, Elinor Sisulu – the daughter-in-law as well as biographer of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, leading members of the African National Congress in South Africa – gives insights into what it meant to write the biography of her famous parents-in-law. Her book is unusual in that it explores both the public and private domains, showing how, despite the political pre-eminence of Walter Sisulu, Albertina stood as an equal partner in their marriage. The unexpected and intimate role reversals seen in their long and loving partnership (which survived even his 26 years in jail on Robben Island) provide not only fascinating insight into their personalities, but also a useful case study in terms of the specificity of African feminisms and their contexts.