Miriam Makeba, in full Zensi Miriam Makeba, (born March 4, 1932, Prospect Township, near Johannesburg, South Africa died November 10, 2008, Castel Volturno, near Naples, Italy), South African-born singer who became known as Mama Afrika, one of the world’s most prominent Black African performers in the 20th century. The daughter of a Swazi mother and a Xhosa father, Makeba grew up in Sophiatown, a segregated Black township outside of Johannesburg and began singing in a school choir at an early age. She became a professional vocalist in 1954, performing primarily in southern Africa. By the late 1950s her singing and recording