Pixley ka Isaka Seme

Pixley ka Isaka Seme earned degrees from Columbia University in New York and the University of Oxford, qualifying as a barrister at the Middle Temple in London. In 1906, his speech 'The Regeneration of Africa' won Columbia's prestigious Curtis Medal and became a foundational pan-African text.

Returning to South Africa, Seme was appalled by ethnic divisions among Africans facing white colonial consolidation. In 1911, he published a manifesto calling for African unity: 'The demon of racialism must be buried.' In 1912, he organized the historic Bloemfontein conference that established the ANC, later serving as its fifth president.