Mary Benson

Dorothy Mary Benson (8 December 1919 – 19 June 2000) was a South African civil rights campaigner and author. Early life Born in 1919 in Pretoria, Benson served in the South African Women's Army during World War II. After the war, she was secretary to film director David Lean. Activism and writing Benson became acquainted with the author Alan Paton, and read his novel Cry, the Beloved Country (1948), whose main theme was racial discrimination in South Africa. This affected her greatly, and she became a campaigner for the rights of black South Africans. She worked with Michael Scott (who, in 1946, was the first white man to be jailed for resisting South Africa's racial laws), becoming his secretary in 1950. With Scott, Benson helped to found the African Bureau.