Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville

Date: 21 Jul 1967
Updated: 17 Jul 2020

On 21 July 1967, Chief Albert Luthuli died after he was struck by a train on a railway bridge close to the home that he had been confined to by the Apartheid regime in Groutville, (then) Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal. Chief Luthuli was President-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1952 until his death in 1967. In 1960, he received the Nobel Peace Prize and he was the most widely known and respected African leader of his era. Born near Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, in 1898, the Chief's family moved to Kwazulu-Natal in 1908. Luthuli trained as a teacher and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. His political activities and defiance brought him into direct conflict with the apartheid government. He was banned from public gatherings and confined to his home. This, however, did not stop him from playing a political role in the country. Throughout his life Chief Luthuli steadfastly believed that a non-racial society in South Africa could be achieved.

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How we know this

01Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, (2007), ‘Making Peace marks 40th anniversary of Albert Luthuli’s death’, 19 July, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org (Accessed: 06 June 2012)
02Nobel Peace Prize.org, ‘The Nobel Peace Prize 1960: Albert Lutuli’, [online], available at www.nobelprize.org (Accessed: 06 June 2012)
03South African History Online, ‘Chief Albert Luthuli’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 06 June 2012)

Last updated · 17 Jul 2020

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012085

South African History Online (2011) 'Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012085 (Accessed: 30 September 2026).

South African History Online, Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012085, (accessed 30 September 2026).

"Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012085. Accessed 30 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012085.