Doctor Elsie Quinlan

Sister Aiden Quinlan (1914 - 1952)

Brief overview:

Sister Aidan (37), an Irish nun and medical doctor was stoned, stabbed and burned to death by a mob at Duncan Village, East London.

On 9 November 1952 the local ANC branch organised a protest meeting as part of Defiance Campaign, the police used batons, bayonets and gunfire to disperse the crowd. At least eight people were killed and 27 injured by the police. A mob then rampaged through the township, venting their anger on symbols of white control. A white insurance salesman, Barend Vorster, who had come to the township to collect his dues was set upon and beaten to death with sticks.

It is thought that Sr Aidan, having heard of the casualties due to the police action, drove into Bantu Street, near the site of the meeting to help treat those injured. She was attacked, stabbed and set alight. Her body was then dismembered, leaving only her torso, part of her head and the stump of one arm. According to subsequent court and oral evidence, her flesh was eaten, either immediately or taken away to be used as muti (traditional African medicine).

In 2011, Penny Siopis made a film about the incident called Communion.

https://vimeo.com/94036020

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Quinlan was born in Kingwilliamstown, now known as Ballydesmond in County Cork, Ireland on 3 December 1914. She studied Social Science and qualified for a degree at the University College Cork. She subsequently decided to become a nun and in 1938 she travelled to King William’s Town in the eastern Cape, South Africa to join the religious community known as the "King Dominicans". On taking her vows as a nun she took the name Sr Aidan. In 1940 her religious order sent her to study medicine at Wits University.

Links to Media articles:

• https://archive.ph/NYYLU
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Quinlan
• https://archive.is/MR9SW
• https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42028
• https://archive.ph/1FmCQ