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Anton Theodor Eberhard August Lubowski (3 February 1952 – 12 September 1989) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist and advocate. He was a member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). In 1989 he was assassinated by operatives of South Africa's Civil Cooperation Bureau. In 2015 he was declared a National Hero and his body reburied at the National Heroes' Acre outside Windhoek.
He married Gabriele Schuster in 1976, the couple had two children. In 1978 they moved to Windhoek where Lubowski took up work as a lawyer.
On 26 August 2015, Namibia's Heroes' Day, Lubowski was reburied at Namibia's National Heroes' Acre.
Lubowski's life is described in his widow's self-published novel On Solid Ground. Lubowski's assassination is part of the backstory in Bernhard Jaumann's novel The Hour of the Jackal. Lubowski's daughter Nadja runs the Anton Lubowski Educational Trust, a charity organisation in his memory. Stellenbosch University hosts an annual memorial lecture in his name.
Political career
As an advocate he was a member of the Windhoek Bar. He defended political prisoners and got involved with the Namibian trade union movement in the capacity of secretary of finance and administration of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW). He joined SWAPO officially in 1984. Before 1989, he had no official party position but he made frequent public statements on behalf of SWAPO. He initiated the NAMLAW Project, a legal research organisation to draft legislation for Namibia after independence. He received the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Services to Human Rights. As a SWAPO activist he was detained six times by the South African authorities. In 1989 he became deputy secretary for finance and administration in the SWAPO election directorate. Shortly before his death he became a member of the SWAPO central committee.
Assassination and remembrance
In the evening of 12 September 1989, Lubowski was shot by a group of assailants in front of his house in Sanderburg Street in central Windhoek. He was hit by several shots from an AK-47 automatic rifle and died from a bullet wound to his head. Operatives of South Africa's Civil Cooperation Bureau were implicated in the attack.
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Categories: 1952 Births, 1989 Deaths, 1989 In South West Africa, 20th-century Namibian Lawyers, 20th-century Namibian Politicians, Assassinated Namibian Politicians, Unsolved Murders In Namibia, Members Of Swapo, Namibian Lawyers, National Heroes Of Namibia, Namibian People Of German Descent, People From Lüderitz, Stellenbosch University Alumni, University Of Cape Town Alumni, White Namibian People, African Politicians Assassinated In The 1980s, Politicians Assassinated In 1989, Alumni Of Paul Roos Gymnasium, Anti-apartheid Activists, Namibian Afrikaner People
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