Robert Noah is the father of popular South African Comedian, Political commentator, actor, producer, director, and television host, Trevor Noah. He was a foreigner living in South Africa during the heat of the Apartheid.
Robert was one of the few unique foreigners who lived in South Africa during this period.
About Robert Noah
Robert Noah is a Swiss-German who used to move around quite frequently then due to the nature of his job. He was a private man and very little was known about him.
In fact, almost nothing is known about his background and family except, for now, the revelation of his relationship with Trevor Noah.
10 Facts About Robert Noah You Should Know
1. Robert Noah’s Profession
The most about Robert Noah known to the public and even his Son was that he was a chef in Canada and New York. This information put alongside his line of business in Johannesburg as of the time he met Trevor’s mum suggests that he was indeed a renowned chef who traveled a lot.
2. He Was Anti-apartheid
Robert Noah hated apartheid and the idea of segregation. He was indeed a foreigner with a difference. He hated racism and homogeneity and he did not understand the concept behind the separation based on skin color.
3. Robert Noah Opened A Unique Restaurant
Robert Noah opened the first-ever integrated restaurant in Johannesburg during the apartheid. The restaurant accommodated people from any race and with any skin color. He defied all odds and laws to set up the restaurant and it grew to be a huge success.
4. Trevors Dad Was Forced To Close His Unique Restaurant
Although Roberts’s restaurant was licensed and had the right to exist, the special license was distributed out of necessity. He however had the right to do what he wanted with his restaurant.
As a result of this, some white people did not buy Robert’s idea of an integrated restaurant and sought to have it shut down. Inspectors visited the restaurant and looked for many reasons to shut the restaurant down.
These reasons ranged from health violations which Robert was not guilty of, to insisting on separate toilets for the different races. Since Robert wouldn’t have that, he opted to close down the restaurant instead.
5. He Helped Conceal Trevor Noah’s Mums Secret
Robert met Patricia, the mother of his son in the apartment building where they lived. Patricia, a colored woman was not permitted to rent a house in that neighborhood. However, she defied the law and stubbornly rented an apartment there.
The result of this action would usually be a report to the authorities and possibly, an eventual jail term. Robert knew this, alongside his other neighbors but nobody reported her and they all covered her up.
6. Robert Noah And Patricia Were Never Married
Robert Noah and the mother of his son, Patricia never got married. In fact, it’s quite uncertain if they had as much as a romantic relationship. They had Trevor from the insistence of Patricia.
Although Robert did not want to have a child and Patricia wasn’t interested in getting married. Robert eventually gave in to Patricia’s proposition and got her pregnant out of wedlock. On the 20th of February 1984, Patricia gave birth to Trevor.
7. He Risked His Life To See His Son
Trevor Noah grew up in South Africa in the heat of apartheid. His dad couldn’t be seen with him because it was illegal and a crime for a white to have anything to do with colored people let alone father a colored child with a colored partner.
Due to this, Robert and Patricia had to devise a means of letting father and son meet and see. This was usually tripping to the park where Robert would connect with his son while maintaining a safe distance from him.
8. Who Robert Noah Was As A Father
After Apartheid ended and Robert was now free to see his son without fear. He moved to Yeoville which was a newly segregated area and so could afford to take Noah out to the park and play with him as there were kids from other races there too.
Robert and Noah began to spend weekends and most holidays together and it was a blissful experience for Noah at the time.
However, Noah remembers his dad to be a man of few words. He rarely spoke and would mostly listen, watch and pay attention. Robert was however a great father and very affectionate to Noah.
SEE ALSO: Emani Asghedom- Everything About Nipsey Hussle’s Daughter Since Her Father Died
9. Robert And His Son Lost Communication
When Trevor was 13 years old, he lost touch with his father. The reason for this ranges from the fact that Trevor probably got that teenage stage in the life of wanting to be away from his parents.
There is also the fact that Patricia got married to an overtly jealous and abusive husband who wasn’t comfortable with his wife going to see the father of her son.
As a result of these, Trevor’s visits to his dad’s became less frequent, and eventually, Robert moved to Cape Town.
At the time, Trevor was busy growing up to even bother about his dad’s move to Cape Town.
10. Robert Noah Always Followed Up On His Son’s Achievements
After about 10 years of losing touch with his dad, Patricia encouraged Trevor to search for his dad. Trevor did all he could do but it was proving to be an impossible mission.
Trevor, after a while of trying, finally convinced the Swiss embassy to send his dad a letter to which he got a reply and was able to locate Robert.
Their reconnection revealed that contrary to what Trevor thought about his dad not loving or caring about him, Robert actually did love him.
Robert showed Trevor a scrapbook he kept of every published feat he recorded and this act reassured Trevor of his dad’s love for him.
Brief Summary Of Robert Noah And Trevor Noah’s Strained Relationship
Robert Noah and his son, Trevor, lost communication and touch when Trevor’s visit became less frequent. Trevor moved from visiting every weekend, to every other week then once a month. Eventually, Trevor could only afford to visit his dad whenever Patricia was able to sneak out of her husband’s sight with him.
During this period, there was a flight from Yeoville to Cape Town by the whites when other races started moving into Yeoville. Robert and his friends were part of this flight.
Trevor got busy with school and building a life for himself that he got distracted from thinking about his dad and his whereabouts. However, the thoughts about his father still bugged him as he was curious to know why his dad abandoned him.
Trevor had a stepfather and stepbrothers at this point but it wasn’t fulfilling as his stepfather was abusive and nothing like his caring and affectionate father, Robert.
Due to the fact that Patricia and Robert never got married, she did not register her son, Trevor with his father’s name. If she had, she would have put both of them in trouble back then. As a result of this, Trevor was unable to locate his father at the time when he wanted to reach out to him.
Trevor felt that his father stopped loving and caring about him, but his mother kept telling him it wasn’t the case. Patricia insisted that Trevor look for his dad as she was certain he loved him. This mission proved to be really difficult due to Robert’s intense privacy.
READ ALSO: Noel J. Mickelson: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About John Amos’ Ex-Wife
Journey To Reconciliation
In Order to reach his dad, Trevor had to go through the Swiss embassy. This was not easy because he had no document proving to be related to Robert therefore he wasn’t assisted. The embassy only agreed to send a letter through to Robert.
When he got the letter, he replied and that was the beginning of the journey towards father and son’s reconciliation.
Trevor Noah was 24 years old when he decided to look for his dad. At this age, Trevor had achieved quite a lot in life and wanted to share these achievements with his dad. Apart from sharing his life’s journey, Trevor had questions he needed his dad to answer.
The meet between father and son in Cape Town felt like it would be an awkward one as Trevor felt he was about to meet someone he didn’t know. It had been a decade since Robert and his son saw and a lot had changed. Trevor could only remember bits and pieces from their early relationship.
An awkward meeting wasn’t the case because when they met, they fell back to how they used to be when Trevor was younger. Robert even made Trevor’s favorite meal the ‘Rosti’.
While catching up, Robert showed Trevor an album he made from clips of all Trevors published articles and that warmed Trevor’s heart. At this point, Trevor realized that indeed his dad did not forget him but was closely following up on his journey to being a man.
Trevor arranged more visits to Robert in order to make up for lost time and catch up with whatever time apartheid and his stepfather stole from them.
