COMPOSER

Enoch Sontonga

1873 - 1905

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Enoch Mankayi Sontonga (c. 1873 – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (English: "God Bless Africa"), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South Africa since 1994. Previously, it had been the official anthem of the African National Congress since 1925. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Enoch Sontonga has received more than 345,024 page views. His biography is available in 19 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 17 in 2019). Enoch Sontonga is the 1,236th most popular composer (up from 1,272nd in 2019), the 130th most popular biography from South Africa (up from 166th in 2019) and the 2nd most popular South African Composer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 350k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 53.72

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 19

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.26

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.24

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among COMPOSERS

Among composers, Enoch Sontonga ranks 1,236 out of 1,451. Before him are Milton Babbitt, Gerald Finzi, Thomas Linley the younger, Frigyes Hidas, Leo Ornstein, and Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. After him are Bronius Kutavičius, Dobri Hristov, Rachel Portman, Masaaki Suzuki, Emīls Dārziņš, and Wenzel Müller.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1873, Enoch Sontonga ranks 165. Before him are Étienne Desmarteau, Franz Weidenreich, Boyd Alexander, Luise Fleck, Harry Spanjer, and Carlos Mendieta. After him are Olaf Gulbransson, Lev Chugaev, Dimitri Arakishvili, Robert Wrenn, Dimitrios Maximos, and Frank Wild. Among people deceased in 1905, Enoch Sontonga ranks 89. Before him are Étienne Desmarteau, Lev Lagorio, Gyula Szapáry, Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde, Mabel Cahill, and Robert Whitehead. After him are William Muir, Alexander Melville Bell, Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl, Lizardo Montero Flores, Vjenceslav Novak, and Fitzhugh Lee.

Others Born in 1873

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Others Deceased in 1905

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In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Enoch Sontonga ranks 130 out of 454. Before him are Goodwill Zwelithini (1948), Gerald Dreyer (1929), Cecil Kellaway (1890), Ramdas Gandhi (1897), Kevin Curren (1958), and Mark Shuttleworth (1973). After him are Belle Delphine (1999), Andrew Murray (1828), Frew McMillan (1942), Stanley Mandelstam (1928), Janet Suzman (1939), and Marjorie Clark (1909).

Others born in South Africa

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Among COMPOSERS In South Africa

Among composers born in South Africa, Enoch Sontonga ranks 2. Before him are Trevor Jones (1949).

South African born Composers

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