Lovell, Leopold

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LOVELL, LEOPOLD

LOVELL, LEOPOLD (1907–1976), South African politician who was the only white man in the first cabinet of independent Swaziland. Born of Russian immigrant parents, he practiced law in Benoni in the Transvaal. During the 1930s he organized resistance to the Greyshirt (pro-Hitler) movement, and had its gangs expelled from the town. Lovell represented Benoni (S. Transvaal) in the House of Assembly from 1949 until 1958 when the Labor Party ceased to be represented in Parliament, and was an outspoken opponent of the Nationalist Government's apartheid policies. He took up residence in Swaziland in 1961 and was admitted to the bar there. In 1967 he became a member of its Parliament and was appointed minister of finance, commerce, and industry.

[Lewis Sowden]