Lord Joffe
Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
BBC
4.4 • 804 Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2007
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Joel Joffe. For many years he was the chairman of Oxfam, before that he set up a hugely successful insurance company and most recently he's been campaigning for terminally ill people to have the right to die. But the career in which he has had the greatest impact is the one he was forced to give up more than 40 years ago - law.
In 1963, Joel Joffe was a young defence solicitor, so dismayed by the apartheid system of his native South Africa that he was on the brink of emigrating. Then he was asked to take over the defence of a group of ANC activists including Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Nelson Mandela.
The trial gripped the world and was all the more extraordinary because, far from aiming to secure his clients' freedom, Joel Joffe was simply fighting for them not to receive the death penalty. He tells Kirsty how, even in his prison clothes, Nelson Mandela was a figure of calm authority, who guided them through the trial.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Under Milk Wood by Richard Burton Book: A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela Luxury: Wind-up radio.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.4 | My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:10.7 | The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that. |
| 0:17.4 | With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to helping |
| 0:22.7 | you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put together |
| 0:28.7 | by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life, |
| 0:34.9 | check out BBC Sounds. Hello, I'm Krista Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive. |
| 0:41.8 | For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music. |
| 0:44.9 | The program was originally broadcast in 2007. |
| 1:09.9 | Music My castaway this week is Joel Joffey. For many years he was the chairman of Oxfam. |
| 1:12.2 | Before that, he set up a hugely successful insurance company. Most recently, he's been campaigning for terminally ill people to have the right to die. |
| 1:18.0 | But the career in which he had the greatest impact is the one he was forced to give up more than 40 years |
| 1:23.3 | ago, the law. In 1963, Joel Joffey was a young defence solicitor, so dismayed by the |
| 1:29.5 | apartheid by the apartheid system of his native South Africa that he was on the brink of emigrating. |
| 1:34.0 | Then he was persuaded to stay, to organise the defence of a group of ANC activists, including |
| 1:40.1 | Walter Susulu, Governor Beke, and Nelson Mandela. He was the main defence attorney throughout the trial |
| 1:46.1 | and was described later by Mandela as the general behind the scenes of our defence. |
| 1:51.6 | What an extraordinary moment in history to be involved in Lord Jofi. |
| 1:55.1 | Can you start by explaining what your best hope was for the defendants? |
| 2:00.0 | Well, the trial was, from the point of view of the defence lawyers, |
| 2:05.7 | was about saving the lives of these wonderful people. |
| 2:09.9 | And that was our main objective, |
... |
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