Michelo Kennedy Hansungule was Professor of Human Rights Law at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa from 2004 up to his retirement a few years ago. For many years, he was an esteemed and respected part of the Centre team. He was a Zambian by birth, but an African at heart. In his teaching, research and interactions, he was the embodiment of the ‘African personality’.
He passed away on Friday 13 September aged 70. A tree has fallen! The great Iroko tree has fallen.
When he joined the Centre for Human Rights as a permanent ‘full’ professor in 2004, he was one of the first black professors in the Faculty of Law. He broke new ground by becoming a role model for many young students. Michelo brought with him very accomplished academic credentials. In addition to studying law at the University of Zambia (where he obtained the degrees LLB and LLM), he holds an LLM from the University of Graz, and a doctorate (PhD) from the University of Vienna.