VOSBURG TO WASHINGTON, memoirs of a peace broker

232pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Protea Book House, Pretoria, 2025

ISBN: 9781485315988

First published in 2024 in Afrikaans as Karooseun van Vosburg.

Dr Franklin Sonn was born in 1939 at Vosburg, in the Karoo, and grew up in Queenstown and later Cape Town. A teacher by training, in 1974 he was appointed principal of Spes Bona in Athlone, and in 1977 he became Rector of Cape Town’s Peninsula Technikon. He was also President of the Cape Teachers' Association of South Africa (1976-1990) and Vice-chair of the Urban Foundation (1978-1991). In 1994 he campaigned for the ANC in the Western Cape elections. In 1995, he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, where he served for three years. He was Chancellor of the University of the Free State (2002-2009), has served on the boards of many companies, and been awarded 13 honorary doctorates.

"He could not turn his back on the circumstances around him. The early 1980s had a huge impact on changing the approach of people in the Cape, and Franklin Sonn was a big part of this." Trevor Manuel, foundding member of the Western Cape branch of the UDF and former Minister of Finance (1996-2009)