Celebrated activist Marika Sherwood who survived Nazi genocide given honorary award from University of Chichester

Britain’s first black professor of history Hakim Adi – who works at University of Chichester - nominated Marika Sherwood for award.

Internationally-recognised scholar Marika Sherwood, who has dedicated her life to challenging racial discrimination, was given an honorary doctorate of history which she collected alongside hundreds of graduating students.

The Hungarian-born historian, who became a refugee in the 1940s, has published 13 critically-acclaimed books about slavery, colonialism and the history of African and Caribbean people Britain in a long and distinguished career as a teacher, writer, and social campaigner.

She has since been at the forefront of attempts to diversify the curriculum across schools and higher education.

Dr Sherwood was nominated for the award by University of Chichester academic Hakim Adi – Britain’s first black professor of history – with whom she founded what is now known as the Black and Asian Studies Association (BASA) in 1991.

She said: “I am honoured to accept this award and am extremely grateful to Professor Adi. I hope that I can inspire more students to research areas that universities have not been not looking at – the working classes, colonialisation, and the history of black people in the UK, which largely remains unexplored.”

Nearly 500 postgraduate students received their degree certificates alongside Dr Sherwood at the University’s graduation ceremony, which was held in Chichester Cathedral.

Prof Hakim Adi, who gave Dr Sherwood’s citation for the honorary award, leads the University of Chichester’s popular MRes degree in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora.

The programme, which is hosted solely online to accommodate students worldwide, is the first of its kind to investigate the historical relationships between Africa and its diaspora.

Prof Adi said: “I am delighted to present Marika with an honorary doctorate from for her contributions to history. We first met in 1987 when I was a PhD student and she came to a seminar at which I was speaking. We have been friends and colleagues since, working and writing together as well as jointly launching BASA. This award is greatly deserved and long overdue.”

To find out about the University of Chichester’s MRes The History of Africa and the African Diaspora at www.chi.ac.uk/history.