Mandela’s former office in Johannesburg: a derelict squat

Mandela’s former office in Johannesburg: a derelict squat
Chancellor House once housed Nelson Mandela’s law firm, which was the first black law firm in Johannesburg. The building is now in ruins and is occupied by squatters. There are plans to turn the office into a legal resource centre for young black lawyers. However, efforts to raise the necessary funds to relocate the squatters and legal negotiations have been dragging on for the past ten years.
Andrew Harding reports on BBC Radio 4.
For further information on the history of South Africa, visit our South Africa focus page.

The death of palaeography
Professor David Ganz from King’s College London is the current holder of the UK’s only chair in palaeography. The university has, however, recently, announced its decision to close the chair from September onwards. The subject will no longer exist as a separate academic discipline in British universities. Ganz has now begun to ‘fight for his subject’ and many of the world’s most eminent classicists have petitioned King’s College to reconsider its position. John Crace explains in The Guardian why the study of ancient manuscripts matters and why history will be lost without it.

The Staffordshire Hoard returns home
On Saturday, the Staffordshire Hoard will go on display, for the first time, in the county in which the treasure was found, at the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
Maev Kennedy reports in The Guardian.
The Staffordshire Hoard
February 13th – March 7th
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Bethesda Street, HanleyStoke-on-Trent ST1 3DW
Telephone: 01782 232323
www.stoke.gov.uk

The Nazification of Carnival under the Third Reich
Siobhán Dowling reports in Der Spiegel Online on how the Nazi regime used Carnival, the pre-Lent festival celebrated predominantly in the Catholic west and south of Germany, as a propaganda tool to put forward their own notions of the German nation. There is also a slideshow of images of Carnival celebrations from the time.

Alfred Gregory: Official photographer on the 1953 Everest expedition
Alfred Gregory was the official photographer to the British expedition that made the first ascent of Everest, in 1953. He died on Tuesday, February 9th, aged 96. His obituary was published yesterday in The Independent.