PAYING TRIBUTE TO AN ACADEMIC COLOSSUS!

BY PULE LECHESA 

DAVID PERCY AMBROSE, (above) a notable historian, publisher, bibliographer, amateur ornithologist, cartographer, philanthropist and professor of mathematics who ‘has immersed himself in all elements of Lesotho’s physical and human situation’ was born in Loughton, Essex, England in 1939.

An alumnus of Oxford University in England, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1962. His rare aptitude to work with numbers propelled him to further studies as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Colorado where he, in 1964, was awarded a Master’s degree in Mathematics. 

The walking encyclopedia of Lesotho and Sesotho literature also taught at the same university (University of Colorado) before embarking on what turned out to be a highly impressive academic career in Lesotho. 

He arrived in Lesotho on 13^th March, 1965 and started working as an assistant student-hostel warder and a Mathematics Lecturer at the Roma campus of the then University of Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, and Swaziland (UBBS) now - National University of Lesotho (NUL). 

In the film, An Academic partnership: 40 years in Lesotho by House 9 Films, Professor Ambrose explains, ‘It was while I was at the University of Colorado that I first became interested in Roma. I, actually, had an African friend who had had a brother at Pius XII University College. Pius XII University College was a forerunner of NUL. It was founded in 1945 - it was a very small institution’. 

Ambrose further explained that the Pius XII University College ran into financial problems in 1964 hence it was acquired by the British government which needed an institution of further education as a result of Fort Hare having been unavailable for further studies by students from the three territories.     

He described how he arrived. ‘The University had told me it was too expensive to come by plane. If I could come by boat it would be cheaper. So I then came by boat to Cape Town and by train to Bloemfontein. I then went to Marseilles junction where I was picked up by a member of our staff’, he recalled.    

Professor Ambrose met his wife, Dr. Sumitra Talukdar, at the university when she first arrived in Lesotho in 1966 coming from her country of birth, India. An accomplished botanist, Dr. Talukdar had studied and taught at the University of Calcutta and had completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford. 

They were married in Lesotho, in 1971, were four persons present were themselves and two witnesses. However, the four persons came from four different continents; Europe, India (Asia), Africa (Lesotho) and America. This was the simplest possible way, considering that neither of them had a relative on the continent of Africa.  However, the party that followed was large.  

Their son, Jonty (Lehlohonolo) was born in Lesotho, educated in Lesotho, Swaziland and UK where he undertook two degrees before passing out from Sandhurst Royal Military College. He has two children of his own. 

Although recruited as Mathematician Ambrose undertook many other activities particularly in the area of Lesotho bibliography which resulted in the university inviting him to be the first Head of the Documentation and Publications Division of the Institute of Southern African Studies.

From 1990, after one of his former students, Moshe Molelekoa, had become Head of Mathematics Department, he joined the Institute of Education at NUL as an Honorary Associate Research Professor (HARP). Thereafter, he undertook a wide variety of paid and unpaid activities, working for inter alia the Development of Bank of Southern Africa, the United Nations, the Swiss Government, the Swedish Government and many others. Several books relevant to Lesotho were produced during this period. Amongst many activities, he has been a constructive critic of numerous drafts of theses and books, as well as a provider of often unusual source material. 

Professor Daniel D. Kunene ( ) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison says (Ambrose) was near the conclusion of a joint project, viz the Lesotho Bibliography, when he arrived in Lesotho. ‘In fact he wrote to me as soon as he heard that I was coming to Lesotho to do research on the rise of literacy in Lesotho, with special reference to the role of the newspaper’, wrote Professor Kunene in his book, Thomas Mofolo and the Emergence of written Sesotho prose (1989). 

He further explained that having done a great deal of research on the history of Lesotho, and of newspapers in particular, Professor Ambrose who is fluent in Sesotho was keen that they should exchange information as far as they possibly could.

‘Certain documents were to be catalogued in the library of the University when I was there. In our conversation, David remembered that there was a file in one of those boxes with court and other legal documents on the Mofolo-Mathaba case, and he very generously made the file available to me.’

Tim Couzens (1944-2016), a revered literary and social historian remembered for his book based on a true story, Murder in Morija, was also grateful to him as he was able to unravel for him a mystery of whether Love at the mission was based on an actual story or not.

The person who solved this particular mystery for me when I went in search of it was David Ambrose of the National University of Lesotho. He did not know the novel (Love at the Mission) but immediately recognized its outlines as based on the life and death of Jaccottet. David is the encyclopedia of Lesotho’, he said.

Couzens added: ‘He knows everything about the country (Lesotho), he collects everything, he shares everything generously’, he said, ‘He and his wife, Sumitra Talukdar, an expert botanist, run a household the locals call ‘The Hamerkops’, after those birds that collect everything for their nests, from reeds to ribbons. The Ambrose are the scholarly equivalent’.

According to one of his former colleagues at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), Dr. Sam Motlomelo, Ambrose is an outstanding scholar who has contributed a lot even in fields he did not specialize in.

‘Professor David Ambrose has been with us for quite some-time. He is one of the outstanding scholars. He is outstanding in a sense that by training and academic background he is a mathematician. But, when you look at what he has written on history, geography and social development - he is outstanding. I always say, he is a living example of the people who use literacy to learn things that they did not learn at school,’ he noted.

His lawyer-cum-politician friend of over 40 years, Godfrey ’Molotsi ‘GM’ Kolisang described him as a multi-faceted academic who knows Lesotho like the palm of his hand. ‘He is a commentator. He comments on almost any topic in Lesotho. He is also a chronicler. Every quarter he produces a document, Summary of events in Lesotho. He is an explorer,’ he said.

Molotsi emphasized: ‘I don’t think there is any part of Lesotho that David does not know. There is no single man in Lesotho who knows more about Lesotho than David. A number of people come to consult him on various topics. He has been a good friend. He has a compatible wife. They work together on various projects, live and always travel together’.  

Hordes of people in Lesotho regard him and his wife as rare gifts to humanity because of the significant progress they have made in the lives of many needy and professional people. Their preparedness to freely share their knowledge, moral rectitude and championing of Lesotho development are notable.

They have done a lot for the community upliftment, building houses for poor individuals, sponsoring the education of needy children, raising money for the building of schools, sponsoring healthcare service for the poor and buying hospital equipment. 

He has substantially contributed to the development of Lesotho including empowerment of the poor. The pragmatic steps he took to change the lives of many are laudable.

When the meteorite fell in Lesotho in 2002 he investigated and recovered some of them and he later set up the Thuathe Meteorite Fund which funded a school building at Boqate, Ha Majara and bought hospital equipment.

Amongst awards that he holds is British MBE ‘for services to education in Lesotho’ received from Queen Elizabeth II, and he is also a Knight Commander of the Most Meritorious Order of Mohlomi (KCMMOM). He was knighted by His Majesty, King Letsie III who dubbed him alongside the former president of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda.

He runs a publishing house, House 9 Publications (more recently they are called Mohokare Trust) which has published over a hundred items on a great variety of Lesotho related subjects including the eastern Free State which was formerly a part of Lesotho. The House 9 Publications has moved to Mohokare.

One of his largest undertakings was the compilation of the standard 1: 250 000 map of Lesotho, for which he co-ordinated fieldwork by variety of assistants and proofread the final eight-colour map in Switzerland.    

In order to help Lesotho learners improve on their basic skills in addition, multiplication and use of fractions he invented three mass produced mathematical card games called; Loti, One and Tiso. His assistant, ’Mѐ ’Malebohang, with Netherlands’ assistance, has introduced the games to some two hundred schools around Lesotho including a competition run on FIFA World Cup lines with prizes.   

Even though he is an amateur ornithologist, Ambrose, has co-written a book with David Maphisa called Guide to the birds on Roma Campus – National University of Lesotho.

(Also see picture above, and the way a stray bird is drawn to him!)

 
The peerless David Ambrose also used to help Lesotho government design postage stamps that were accurately reflective of themes germane to Lesotho.