Robben Island, noun phrase

/ˌrɒbən ˈaɪlənd/
Origin:
DutchShow more Partial translation of Dutch Robben Eiland (robben seals), the island in Table Bay formerly used as a leper-colony, an asylum, and, later, a place of detention for political prisoners.
1. The prison on Robben Island, formerly used for the detention of political prisoners. Often used allusively as a symbol of imprisonment for political reasons; Island. Also attributive. See also Mandela University (Mandela).
[1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. I. 108This Hottentot..was sent away to the Robben Island, where he died an Infidel.]
[1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 44The Company’s Servant was, for this Crime, banish’d to the Robben-Island for Life.]
[1833 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. 204(k)1820...Dec. 25. — The Caffer Prophet Lynx, with other Caffers, and the Hottentot-Chief David Stuurman, sent to Robben Island.]
1953 A. Mogale in Drum May 31I’ll get you a few years on Robben Island — I know all about you and the joint in Cato Manor.
1969 M. Benson At Still Point 17‘Grobelaar looks very horrible but he’s not a bad fellow.’ ‘How could he say that when Grobelaar helped send him to Robben Island!’
1974 E. Prov. Herald 16 Dec.Robben Island was not introduced by the Afrikaners, it was here in the time of Lord Charles Somerset.
1976 Drum Sept. 2I, Sipho Themba, graduate of Robben Island, say blackstan citizenship is just a four-letter word.
1977 Weekend World 17 July 51I have never heard of a White man who has been to Robben Island.
1981 Rand Daily Mail 22 June 10Bannings, detentions without trial and Robben Island are symptoms of this country’s sickness.
1982 M.O. Mtshali in Chapman & Dangor Voices from Within 76He don’t care for politics He don’t go to church He knows Sobukwe he knows Mandela They’re in Robben Island.
1983 Rand Daily Mail 11 Feb. 7Robben Island graduates at the congress, all of whom were given..‘an ovation and a hero’s welcome’.
1986 Style Dec. 41The only good bantus, commies, liberals and Engelse were dead ones. Any talk of multiracialism, in any form, got you 90 days or 180, or early retirement on Robben Island.
1987 Frontline Aug.–Sept. 18‘What is freedom?’ asks Joe Khoza, who has spent 16 of his 50 years on Robben Island. ‘We want to be free from oppression, but then what?’
1990 G. Slovo Ties of Blood 611They were going they said, to Robben Island: they were three of many: they were proud.
1992 D. Beresford in Weekly Mail 16 Apr. 25She’d had fun telling her friends she was going overseas. She repeated the line to make sure we had the joke: ‘Overseas, you see — overseas to Robben Island’.
1992 R. Tyler in Pace Aug. 46We were all encouraged by the leadership to study — that is why it was known as the University of Robben Island. You got a complete political education there.
2. combination
Robben Island slate, a bluish stone quarried on Robben Island, used for paving and the construction of monuments.
[1833 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. (advt)J. Fitzpatrick, Stone Mason and Monumental Letter Engraver, Dealer in Robben Island Stone.]
1951 L.G. Green Grow Lovely 35Paving tiles were either Robben Island slate, or were brought from Holland or Batavia.
1963 R. Lewcock Early 19th C. Archit. 380Robben Island ‘slate’, also called ‘bluestone’ was used for paving slabs, steps, kerbings, hearthstones and, under Somerset, for fireplace surrounds.
The prison on Robben Island, formerly used for the detention of political prisoners. Often used allusively as a symbol of imprisonment for political reasons; Island. Also attributive.
Derivatives:
Hence Robben Islander  noun phrase, one sentenced to imprisonment on Robben Island for political activities; Islander, see Island.
1972 Drum 8 Dec. 55He has little to eat — and, as an ex-Robben Islander, little chance of getting a job.
1987 New Nation 5 Nov. 7That same year, Inkatha members broke up a meeting organised by activists in Hammarsdale to welcome former Robben Islanders.
1990 Weekly Mail 21 Sept. 7There is also the complication of multiple levels of leadership; the returning ANC hierarchy, the internal ANC leadership, the UDF executive,..the trade union leadership, the Communist Party leadership, the military commanders, the former Robben Islanders.
1994 Weekly Mail & Guardian 13 May 14A former Robben Islander, Mhlaba is among the ANC’s ‘leadership which is unmatched by any political party on earth’.
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17311994

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Robben Island slate
Robben Islander

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roaster cookie, noun phrasen. phr.robot, nounn.
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