SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Frances Ames

1920 - 2002

Photo of Frances Ames

Icon of person Frances Ames

Frances Rix Ames (; 20 April 1920 – 11 November 2002) was a South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist, best known for leading the medical ethics inquiry into the death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, who died from medical neglect after being tortured in police custody. When the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC) declined to discipline the chief district surgeon and his assistant who treated Biko, Ames and a group of five academics and physicians raised funds and fought an eight-year legal battle against the medical establishment. Ames risked her personal safety and academic career in her pursuit of justice, taking the dispute to the South African Supreme Court, where she eventually won the case in 1985. Born in Pretoria and raised in poverty in Cape Town, Ames became the first woman to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Cape Town in 1964. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Frances Ames is the 419th most popular social activist (down from 323rd in 2019), the 93rd most popular biography from South Africa (down from 51st in 2019) and the 3rd most popular South African Social Activist.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Frances Ames by language

Loading...

Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists, Frances Ames ranks 419 out of 840. Before her are Alice Paul, Peter Arshinov, Lester R. Brown, Grace Sherwood, Alfreda Markowska, and Romas Kalanta. After her are Mahmoud Taleghani, Marina Oswald Porter, Evelyn Mase, Huey P. Newton, Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Aruna Asaf Ali.

Most Popular Social Activists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1920, Frances Ames ranks 252. Before her are Nilde Iotti, Werner Klemperer, Jadwiga Piłsudska, Ignacio Eizaguirre, Heleno de Freitas, and Ronald Speirs. After her are Nadir Afonso, Silvestre Igoa, Machiko Hasegawa, Chushiro Hayashi, Harold Sakata, and Siegfried Buback. Among people deceased in 2002, Frances Ames ranks 176. Before her are Arthur Owen, Morihiro Saito, Gabrielle Wittkop, Tinus Osendarp, R. M. Hare, and Sanya Dharmasakti. After her are Eugene Odum, George Sidney, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Alexandru Todea, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and Arno Peters.

Others Born in 1920

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 2002

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Frances Ames ranks 93 out of 454. Before her are Joan Harrison (1935), J. B. M. Hertzog (1866), Athol Fugard (1932), Chris Heunis (1927), Trevor Jones (1949), and Janet Suzman (1939). After her are Evelyn Mase (1922), Lawrence Stevens (1913), John Cranko (1927), Piet Retief (1780), Koos de la Rey (1847), and Julius Malema (1981).

Others born in South Africa

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In South Africa

Among social activists born in South Africa, Frances Ames ranks 3. Before her are Nelson Mandela (1918), and Steve Biko (1946). After her are Evelyn Mase (1922), Ted Grant (1913), Bram Fischer (1908), Devdas Gandhi (1900), Ramdas Gandhi (1897), Denis Goldberg (1933), Albertina Sisulu (1918), Beyers Naudé (1915), and Lillian Ngoyi (1911).

South African born Social Activists

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous