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Nic Wolpe helped preserve precious memories of South Africa’s past

Nic Wolpe helped preserve precious memories of South Africa’s past
The Order of the Polar Star awarded to Nic Wolpe by the King of Sweden. (Photo: Supplied)
Peta Wolpe, Tessa Wolpe and Alicia Chamaillé
By Peta Wolpe, Tessa Wolpe and Alicia Chamaillé
26 Aug 2024
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Nic wanted to make Liliesleaf a place of inspiration, liberation and dialogue; a place to keep memory alive. For his work, he was knighted by the king of Sweden and received the Royal Order of the Polar Star.

Like his favourite fictional secret agent, James Bond, our brother (and Alicia’s uncle) Nicholas Wolpe had several brushes with death. When he was six weeks old, he survived a rare pneumonia. As an adult, he survived a benign spinal tumour, a heart attack and a few other near-death experiences.

On Saturday, 24 August he died after a two-year battle with a brain tumour. He was 61 years old.

Nic’s life wasn’t easy. He was born into a Struggle family. Our parents, AnnMarie and Harold Wolpe, were prominent during the Struggle years and beyond. Harold avoided being tried and sentenced along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others in the Rivonia Trial by escaping from prison in August 1963 with Arthur Goldreich, Mosie Moola and Abdulah Jassat. 

The escape made international headlines and Harold fled to the UK, where AnnMarie joined him, followed three months later in October 1963 by their daughters, Tessa and Peta. Nic was only able to join his family in the spring of 1964 as he was still weak after his bout of pneumonia.

nic wolpe liliesleaf mandela mlangeni Nic Wolpe with Rivonia triallists Nelson Mandela and Andrew Mlangeni. (Photo: Supplied)



Nic’s childhood was hard. He described feeling lonely and he suffered from severe dyslexia. One of his teachers told his mother that he wouldn’t even be able to work as a dustman. However, Nic was tenacious and driven, and in 1988 obtained a degree in sociology at the University of Warwick in the UK.

His first job was with Joel Joffe, one of the Rivonia Trial lawyers, at Allied Dunbar, a life insurance company. He came home from work one day in 1990 to find his mother speaking on the phone. She handed him the receiver and to his astonishment Nelson Mandela, who’d only recently been released from prison, greeted him.

Nic returned to South Africa in December 1991 shortly after his parents came back. He worked in a bar at Cape Town’s Waterfront. Later he joined Operation Hunger and worked for the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa on voter education in rural communities, before becoming a business consultant in 2000.

It was at this time that he became interested in Liliesleaf, its history and its role as the nerve centre of the liberation Struggle. Liliesleaf was the headquarters of the underground movement. On 11 July 1963, the ANC held one last meeting there. The police raided the farm and many of the leaders were arrested and received life sentences at the Rivonia Trial (Liliesleaf is in the Johannesburg suburb of Rivonia).

Nic came up with the idea to make Liliesleaf a place of inspiration, liberation and dialogue; a place to keep memory alive. He approached Mendi Msimang, whom he knew when Mendi was the chief representative of the ANC in the UK, and with his encouragement, Nic forged ahead. In 2001, President Thabo Mbeki announced the formation of the Liliesleaf Trust. 

nic wolpe liliesleaf The Order of the Polar Star awarded to Nic Wolpe by the King of Sweden. (Photo: Supplied)



Nic realised that they first needed to acquire the farm and the main buildings. He needed funding and Mendi introduced Nic to Adam Fleming, a businessman and a nephew of Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, and asked him to become a trustee. In February 2002, Adam invited Nic to join him for breakfast. By the end of that breakfast, Nic’s journey in creating what is now a Unesco World Heritage Site had begun.

Interactive museum


Some 40 years after his father, Harold Wolpe, had signed the purchase of Liliesleaf in 1961, Nic was buying it back. He created a remarkable interactive museum full of press clippings, video recordings and memoirs.

Not only did Nic create a museum that enabled many to learn about this pivotal moment in South African history, but he also created a place of dialogue and engagement. He had an auditorium built — an amazing space for meetings and conferences. For him, Liliesleaf was a way of honouring the people who gave to the cause.

Nic also advocated for the important role of heritage. He  said:

“Liliesleaf is more than just a historical site that is rich with history and tradition. It is what underlies this rich history and tradition which ultimately personifies the essence and meaning of the site. It is a site of memory that recalls the stories and events through immersive and dynamic interactive exhibitions, and in so doing ensures that this period in South Africa’s recent history is preserved for current and future generations.”

Nic firmly believed that “the notion of the past speaking to and defining the present links to one of the most popular models of memory, which sees memory as a present act of consciousness that is reconstructive of the past.”

For his work, he received the Royal Order of the Polar Star in 2017, a knighthood on behalf of the king of Sweden which is only awarded to foreigners and members of the royal family. The Swedish ambassador said: “Nic and Liliesleaf are devoted to memory against forgetting. Nic has carried the flag for Sweden and taken our partnership forward.”

His mother was too ill to attend the ceremony, but his sister Tessa read out her message to the gathering: “His life was turned around after Nic visited Liliesleaf, which by then had become a B&B and mini-conference centre. He was astounded to see the former headquarters of the SA Communist Party, MK (Umkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the ANC) and ANC and home to Mandela. It was then decided that it should become a memorial site and museum.”

Nic was engaging and good with people from all walks of life. He gave generously and treated everyone as equals.

He worked tirelessly over 20 years to create an amazing interactive museum, a site of history and memory at Liliesleaf. In July, the 46th World Heritage Committee approved South Africa’s two bids for inclusion on the prestigious World Heritage List. Liliesleaf is one of the Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites.

This prestigious award was born out of Nic’s work spanning more than 20 years to create a place of memory, a place of engagement and a commemoration of vital moments in South Africa’s history.

Nic is survived by his older sisters, Peta and Tessa, his brother-in-law, Will, and his four children, Jade, James, Liam and Olivia.

We will miss you Nic – your unbelievable memory, your animated recountings of scenes from the Marx Brothers’ movies, your love of music and particularly Elvis Presley, your sense of humour, your devotion to Manchester United and that cheeky twinkle in your eye when you smiled. DM

Tessa Wolpe is the middle child of Harold and AnnMarie Wolpe; Peta Wolpe is the eldest child of Harold and AnnMarie Wolpe; Alicia Chamaillé is Peta Wolpe’s daughter.

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