Alan Paton, in full Alan Stewart Paton   (born January 11, 1903, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa—died April 12, 1988, near Durban, Natal), South African writer, best known for his first novel, Cry, the Beloved Country (1948), a passionate tale of racial injustice that brought international attention to the problem of apartheid in South Africa.

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/446554/Alan-Paton)