Nicholas Haysom, Anti-Apartheid Activist, Dies at 73

Nicholas Haysom, a prominent South African anti-apartheid activist and United Nations diplomat who advised Nelson Mandela on the nation's post-apartheid constitution, died Tuesday in New York at the age of 73.

Haysom, whose full name was Nicholas Roland Leybourne Fink Haysom and who was affectionately known as Fink, passed away after a prolonged struggle with heart and lung complications, according to his daughter, Rebecca Haysom. At the time of his death, he served as the special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, a role he had held since January 2021.

Born in April 1952 in Durban, Haysom grew up in a liberal family committed to racial equality. His mother was an active opponent of apartheid, the system of racial segregation enforced by South Africa's white-minority government. He pursued law studies at the Universities of Natal and Cape Town, driven by a desire to address the inequalities shaping daily life under the regime. During his university years, Haysom became president of the National Union of South African Students, an anti-apartheid organization. He faced repeated arrests and detentions for...