Editing Ruth First (section)

==Family and education==
Ruth First was born 4 May 1925 in [[Johannesburg]] to her [[Jewish]] parents, Julius First and Matilda Leveta. Julius emigrated to South Africa from [[Latvia]] when he was 10 years old, and Matilda emigrated from [[Lithuania]] when she was four years old. They were both anti-apartheid activists and became founding members of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), the forerunner of the [[South African Communist Party]] (SACP). Ruth First was brought up in [[Kensington, Gauteng|Kensington]] where she and her brother, Ronald First, were raised in a highly political household. At age 14, Ruth was a member of the Young Left Wing Book Club.<ref name="JWA">{{cite web |title=Ruth First |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/first-ruth |website=Jewish Women’s Archive |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref> Like her parents, she joined the Communist Party,<ref name="Marks 1983 123–128">{{cite journal|last=Marks|first=Shula|title=Ruth First: A Tribute|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies|date=October 1983|volume=10|issue=1|pages=123–128|doi=10.1080/03057078308708071|jstor=2636820}}</ref> which was allied with the [[African National Congress]] in its struggle to overthrow the apartheid government of South Africa.

As a teenager, First attended [[Jeppe High School for Girls]] and then became the first person in her family to attend university. She received her [[bachelor's degree]] in Social Science from the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] in 1946, receiving firsts in anthropology, economic history, sociology, and native administration.<ref name="SAHO">{{cite web |title=Ruth First |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ruth-first |website=South African History Online |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref> While she was at university, she found that "on a South African campus, the student issues that matter are national issues". She was involved in the founding of the Federation of Progressive Students, also known as the Progressive Students League,<ref name="Marks 1983 123–128"/> and got to know, among other fellow students, [[Nelson Mandela]], future [[President (government title)|President]] of [[South Africa]], and [[Eduardo Mondlane]], the first leader of the Mozambique freedom movement [[FRELIMO]]. She was also the secretary of the [[Young Communist League]] and for a short time, was active in the Johannesburg CPSA.<ref name="SAHO">{{cite web |title=Ruth First |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ruth-first |website=South African History Online |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref>

After graduating, First worked as a research assistant for the Social Welfare Division of the Johannesburg City Council. In 1946, her position in the Communist Party was boosted significantly after a series of mine strikes during which leading members of the Party were arrested. After this, First requested an interview with the Director of Social Welfare where she announced she would like to leave her department without serving her customary notice first. First then became the editor-in-chief of the radical newspaper ''The Guardian'', which was subsequently banned by the state under the Communism Suppression Act and often changed names due to repressive state actions and media censorship.<ref name="Marks 1983 123–128"/> Through investigative journalism, First exposed the racial segregation policies known as [[apartheid]], targeting black South Africans following the rise of the National Party in 1948.<ref name=jwa>{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/first-ruth|title=Ruth First {{!}} Jewish Women's Archive|first= Milton|last= Shain|author2= Miriam Pimstone|website=jwa.org|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref>

In 1949, she married [[Joe Slovo]], a South African anti-apartheid activist and Communist, with whom she had three daughters, [[Shawn Slovo|Shawn]], [[Gillian Slovo|Gillian]] and [[Robyn Slovo|Robyn]]. Together, Slovo and First became a leading force in the 1950s protest era in which the government outlawed any movements that opposed their policies.<ref name=jwa />

In addition to her work with ''The Guardian'' and its successors, the [[South African Congress of Democrats]] (COD), a White-only wing of the Congress Alliance, was founded in 1953 with support from First when the ANC expressed need for a group of White activists to endorse their policies and break through to members of the Nationalist party.<ref name="117 Days">{{cite book |last1=First |first1=Ruth |title=117 Days: An Account of Confinement and Interrogation under the South African 90-Day Detention Law |date=2009 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |location=New York |isbn=9781101050873 |url=https://archive.org/details/ruth-first-117-days |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref>{{rp|136}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ruth-heloise-first|title=Ruth Heloise First {{!}} South African History Online|website=sahistory.org.za|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> In 1955, she assumed the position of editor of a radical political journal called ''Fighting Talk''. First and Slovo were also members of the African National Congress, in addition to the Communist Party. She also played an active role during the extensive riots of the 1950s.<ref name="Marks 1983 123–128"/> Ruth was on the drafting committee of the [[Freedom Charter]], but was unable to attend its presentation on 25 June 1955 at the Congress of the People at Kliptown due to a banning order. Ruth also traveled to the [[International Union of Students]] and the founding conferences of the [[World Federation of Democratic Youth]]. She visited the Soviet Union, China, Britain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, and France.<ref name="117 Days" />{{rp|136}}