Fatima Meer, a friend and biographer of Nelson Mandela, dies at 81

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Fatima Meer, a friend and biographer of Nelson Mandela, has died. She was 81.

The South African Press Assn. quoted a local politician and family friend, Logie Naidoo, as saying Meer died in a Durban hospital Friday. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Achmat Dangor, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said Meer had ‘been a close friend of Mr. Mandela and his family for more than 60 years was an academic and a stalwart of the struggle against apartheid.’

Meer’s Mandela biography, ‘Higher than Hope,’ was published in 1990.

Graca Machel, Mandela’s wife, said in a statement that Meer’s death ‘is a great loss to the nation because she has contributed immeasurably to the struggle against apartheid.’

--Associated Press