The world mourned the loss of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died on December 26, 2021 in his native South Africa at the age of 90. The Anglican cleric was an iconic human rights advocate, fighting tirelessly to end apartheid, South Africa’s official policy of racial segregation.

In 1984, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent anti-apartheid efforts. When the practice was finally abolished in the 90s. Tutu became the country’s chair for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, alongside friend Nelson Mandela, who became the first president of the country.

“He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing,” the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement. “His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies.”

Desmond Tutu is seen here speaking at the “So the World May Hear” Awards Gala in Minnesota in 2014.

Click through the gallery to see some of Desmond’s best pics through the years.