Don Mattera was a renowned poet, author and political activist from South Africa. He was well known for his voice against the apartheid of South Africa. Mattera also established a foundation which honours the freedom fighters and also educates the youth. Also, he was a journalist who used to work for The Sunday Times, The…
South African poet and author Don Mattera, also known as Donato Francisco Mattera, lived from 1935 to July 18, 2022. His multicultural heritage includes his Khoisan/Xhosa grandmother, Tswana mother, and Italian grandfather. Paolo Mattera, Mattera’s great-grandfather, was an Italian immigrant who wed an Eastern Cape-based Xhosa woman. Mattera grew up in Sophiatown, which at the…
Don Mattera, sometimes known as Donato Francisco Mattera, was a poet and author from South Africa who lived from 1935 until July 18, 2022. His Italian grandpa, Tswana mother, and Khoisan/Xhosa grandmother all contribute to his multiracial heritage. Mattera’s great-grandfather, Paolo Mattera, was an Italian immigrant who married a Xhosa woman in the Eastern Cape….
Don Mattera was born in 1935. He was born in Western Native Township (now Westbury). In his autobiography “Memory Weapon” he writes: “Sophiatown also had its beauty; picturesque and intimate like most ghettoes… Mansions and quaint cottages … stood side by side with rusty wood-and-iron shacks, locked in a fraternal embrace of filth and felony…….
Don Mattera, sometimes known as Donato Francisco Mattera, was a South African poet and author who lived from 1935 until July 18, 2022. His Khoisan/Xhosa grandmother, Tswana mother, and Italian grandfather all contributed to his multiracial heritage. Mattera’s great-grandfather, Paolo Mattera, was an Italian immigrant who married a Xhosa woman from the Eastern Cape. They…
Donato Francisco Mattera is better known as a South African poet and author. Don Mattera was raised in Sophiatown, then a thriving centre of South African culture. His Khoisan/Xhosa grandmother, Tswana mother, and Italian grandfather all contributed to his multiracial heritage. “Sophiatown also had its beauty; picturesque and intimate like most ghettoes,” the author writes…