Paton, Alan Stewart (1903–1988)

South African writer. Paton is best known for his international best-seller Cry, the Beloved Country (1948). A story of reconciliation between the fathers of a black murderer and his white victim, the novel is both an indictment of racial inequality in South Africa and a poetic plea for reform. Paton published two other novels, Too Late the Phalarope (1953), an exploration of Afrikanerdom and the taboo of miscegenation, and Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful (1981). His other publications include a collection of short stories, Debbie Go Home (1961); political and social studies; and two volumes of autobiography, Towards the Mountain (1980) and Journey Continued (1988).

Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg. He became a schoolmaster and in 1935 the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory near Johannesburg, which he ran along enlightened lines. In 1953 he became a founding member of the anti-apartheid Liberal Party, of which he was leader until 1968 when government legislation forced its collapse.