Ruth Weiss has not only reported on Africa in countless articles, reports and interviews in the German media. She was also a correspondent for the UK Guardian and Zambia correspondent for the Financial Times as well as editor of African newspapers such as the Times of Zambia and the South African Financial Mail. From 1975 to 78, she was chief of staff at Deutsche Welle in Cologne.

Her reporting focussed on economic development and the liberation movements in Southern Africa. After the apartheid regimes in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia ( today’s Zimbabwe) declared Ruth Weiss persona non grata in the 1960s, Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and later London became the starting points from which she reported and undertook research trips.

Ruth Weiss has also written over 30 non-fiction books, mainly about Southern Africa, an autobiography, various novels and children’s books. Her book “Meine Schwester Sara” (My Sister Sara) was used as examination reading at secondary schools in Baden-Württemberg.

Not only does Ruth Weiss continue to write books. As a Holocaust survivor and Africa expert, she is still active with reading tours at German schools and educational institutions.

In light of this, the German Africa Foundation honoured Ruth Weiss’ life’s work and, above all, her exceptional reporting on Africa, which made a significant contribution to providing readers in Germany with a differentiated picture of Southern Africa in difficult times.