Davidson , Basil Risbridger , b 1914 , author and historian

Basil Davidson was born on 9 November 1914. He was a member of the editorial staff of the Economist, 1938-1939. Following a brief spell as diplomatic correspondence for The Star in 1939, Davidson joined the army, serving throughout the European sphere of conflict, including a spell in Italy resulting in his receiving the Freedom of the City of Genoa in 1945. After the war he continued his work as a journalist, as Paris correspondent for The Times until 1949. He subsequently worked for the New Statesman, 1950-1954, for the Daily Herald, 1954-1957, and as leader-writer for the Daily Mirror, 1959-1962.

Since his 1952 Report on South Africa Davidson has written over twenty books on Africa and a number of novels. His publications on Portuguese Africa include In the Eye of the Storm: Angola's People (1972). He was also responsible for an eight-part television documentary on Africa in 1984. Since 1978 he has been an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Birmingham and has received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Ibadan (1975), Dar es Salaam (1985), Open University (1980) and Edinburgh (1981).