Abner Gideon Nkosi

Abner Gideon Nksoi was born in Zombodze, Swaziland (now Eswatini) in 1908. Zombodze is a village associated with Swazi royalty, and Nkosi may himself have been a part of Swazi royalty, with his father Dhlamini II recorded as a chief. He received his bachelor's from the University of South Africa in 1936 and a master’s in race relations from Yale in 1940, with an essay on “Education and Culture Change Among the Swazi of the Protectorate, South Africa.” During his time at Yale he was hosted by Lida Clanton Broner, an African-American activist with ties to South Africa. In 1941 he married Gladys Thsabalala, with whom he had at least two children, and in 1946 he received a master’s in education from the University of South Africa. Nkosi continued working in education from then on, working variously as a teacher and a principal in schools throughout South Africa, including as a teacher at St. Chad’s College, Payneville Secondary School, Payneville Springs, and as principal of the Swazi National School in Mbabane, Swaziland (Eswatini). He was also the president of the Swaziland African Teachers Association. Nkosi died in 1956.

"The Development of the Native Primary School Code in the Transvaal." M.A. thesis, University of South Africa, 1946.

"Education and Culture Change Among the Swazi of the Protectorate, South Africa." M.A. thesis, Yale University, 1950.