October 20, 2005
By Lucille Davie
JOBURG'S most popular - and most famous - scientist, Professor Phillip Tobias, turned 80 last week, and Wits University threw him a quietly elegant party.
Held in a large marquee in front the Great Hall on Saturday night, over 300 guests came to celebrate Wits's most distinguished, world-famous academic. The best part of the evening for Tobias, and probably for everyone else, was that the octogenarian was not asked to speak.
In an interview several days later he said, "The speeches were superb and very funny and perhaps the best part was that I was not asked to give another speech, as I had given five or six the previous week."
His lengthy speeches are legendary, and although he is usually given a time limit, his enthusiasm for his many subjects of expertise and his depth of knowledge is such that he can't talk briefly. So other people made the speeches, which were sprinkled with affectionate and warm anecdotes about him and his 60 years at Wits.
It was a delightful evening, with Tobias sitting at the front table in a dapper bowtie and jacket, with his illustrious guests and their partners: Minister of Education Naledi Pandor; Judge Edwin Cameron, chairperson of the Wits Council; Professor Loyiso Nongxa, vice-chancellor of Wits; and Professor William Makgoba, vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
At the other tables were scattered professors from Wits and elsewhere, various ambassadors, Derek Hanekom, the deputy minister of science and technology, members of Tobias's family, and Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer.
Tobias, born in Durban on 14 October 1925, is acknowledged worldwide as an expert in various fields: anatomy, human biology and palaeoanthropology, three professorships he held simultaneously at Wits. He has received 16 honorary degrees and countless awards and medals. He has worked at the Sterkfontein Caves, Gauteng's World Heritage Site, since 1945, where he has recovered 600 hominid fossils.
He is a world authority on human evolution and the analysis of human fossils, and he has written numerous papers and books on the evolution of the human brain and speech.
Of his 80 years, he has spent 60 at Wits, in that time obtaining five degrees. Although he officially retired in 1993, Tobias is still actively involved in university affairs. He is professor emeritus of anatomy and human biology, and holds the positions of honorary professor of anthropology and honorary professorial research associate of the Sterkfontein Research Unit.
Journalist and writer Denis Beckett was MC for the evening, and was the perfect choice with his light-hearted banter and easy manner.
Nongxa, smiling broadly, took the podium. "This past week has been marked by an outpouring of tributes both nationally and internationally. We have been reminded of Professor Tobias's inspired career and his many achievements.
"We have also been reminded of his outspoken criticism of the apartheid regime."
Nongxa told the audience that it was Tobias who had played an important role in having Sterkfontein declared a World Heritage Site.
Tobias was one of a "handful of scientists that were instrumental in persuading the world to accept, and celebrate, that Africa is indeed the Cradle of Humankind. He will tell you when you talk to him that being the birthplace of humanity and culture is 'no small thing.'"
Nongxa said he enjoyed a warm relationship with Tobias, who refers to him affectionately as "my vice-chancellor", a term that obviously charms Nongxa. "My admiration for the legend has become respect for the man."
Tobias embodied what Wits stood for and all that the university hoped to achieve in future, Nongxa added. "There have been few other people in the history of this institution who have so consistently championed its cause.
"It is our fervent wish that he will be here for many more years and that we will continue to benefit from his formidable intellect, prolific research and passion for this great institution."
A video of Tobias's life, put together by the university, was aired and a parade of colleagues paid tribute to their most respected workmate.
One of them, a researcher, had tried to gain access to a French museum while researching Sarah Baartman, in the run-up to the return of her remains to South Africa in 2002. The French turned her down without explanation.
She returned, with a letter from Tobias, again asking for entry. Doors were immediately opened and the French gleefully kept the letter, saying they were going to frame it.
The Wits Choir entertained the guests with their beautiful harmonies, and popular tenor Nicholas Nicolaides sang a selection of songs he thought Tobias would particularly like.
When he finished, Tobias rushed up to him to thank him, also asking him to sing another favourite. Nicolaides again took the microphone, singing a beautiful rendition of Danny Boy.
Professor Tim Partridge, a long-time friend and honorary professor of climatology at Wits, was the guest speaker. He spoke of his long association with Tobias, recounting a story of his colleague giving a talk and standing next to a dinosaur.
Tobias put his head into the dinosaur's head, to demonstrate a point, and got stuck. Partridge didn't say how the episode ended, but it gave everyone, then and now, a good laugh.
Jane Taylor, head of drama at Wits, read several of Tobias's favourite poems, before the Wits choir took the podium again and sang a rousing Happy Birthday, joined by the audience.
Wits staff and academics handed the professor a huge birthday card they had all signed. Wits had also gone to some trouble with the pudding: a rich, chocolate cake was presented in the shape of Africa, with a mint leaf representing Madagascar.
Asked later, Tobias said of the party, "It was one of the most marvellous parties I've been to for many a year. I enjoyed the warm and joyous atmosphere, and the carefully crafted programme of entertainment.
"I was very moved that Naledi Pandor, the minister of education, had come along and also that the vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor William Makgoba, had flown up especially for the party."
When asked how it felt to be 80, he said, "Once the surprise of passing this landmark is behind me, life goes on pretty much as usual."
And for him that means writing the second part of his autobiography. The first part, Into the Past, has recently been published.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
