Lydia Makhubu

Lydia Phindile Makhubu (1 July 1937 - July 2021) was a Swazi chemist and former professor of chemistry, dean and vice-chancellor of the University of Swaziland (now the University of Eswatini).

Life She was born at the Usuthu Mission in Swaziland. Her parents were teachers, but her father also worked as an orderly in health clinics. Her early exposure to medicine had a great influence on her choice of career; she initially wanted to become a doctor, but then switched to chemistry.

Makhubu graduated from Pius XII College (now the National University of Lesotho) in Lesotho with a B.Sc. in 1963. With a Canadian Commonwealth scholarship, she obtained an M.Sc. in organic chemistry from the University of Alberta in 1967, followed by a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1973, becoming the first Swazi woman to earn a doctorate. She was the first woman chairperson of the executive committee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. and honorary doctorates from various universities, including a doctor of laws from Saint Mary's University in 1991.

She married the surgeon Daniel Mbatha; they have a son and a daughter.