Maya Angelou, the celebrated American poet, author, and civil rights activist, was married to Tosh Angelos and later to Paul du Feu. She also had a significant relationship with South African activist Vusumzi Make, although reliable accounts differ on whether they legally married. Angelou’s personal life was complex, and she generally kept details of her relationships private.
Introduction
Maya Angelou’s husband and relationship history remain subjects of interest for readers exploring the personal life of one of America’s most influential literary figures. Best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her poetry collection And Still I Rise, Angelou built a remarkable career as a writer, performer, educator and civil rights activist.
Born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Angelou became internationally respected for her writing about identity, racism, resilience and the experiences of Black Americans. She died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86.
Her personal life included marriage to Tosh Angelos and, later, Paul du Feu. She also shared an important relationship with Vusumzi Make, a South African anti-apartheid activist. However, biographical accounts differ over whether Make and Angelou formally married.
These differences matter because Angelou did not always disclose the details of her romantic relationships, and the available accounts do not present a completely consistent marriage timeline. The most reliable approach is to distinguish documented marriages from relationships whose legal status remains disputed. (Sources: Biography.com; Poetry Foundation; Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute.)
What Happened? Who Was Maya Angelou’s Husband?
There was no single husband throughout Maya Angelou’s life. Several men played important roles in her personal history, particularly during the years when she was developing her career and raising her son.
The three names most frequently associated with her relationship history are:
- Tosh Angelos: Her first widely documented husband. They married in the late 1940s or around 1950, depending on the source, and divorced in 1952.
- Vusumzi Make: A South African freedom fighter with whom she became involved around 1960. Stanford University’s King Institute identifies their marriage as taking place in January 1961, although other historical accounts describe them as partners who never legally married.
- Paul du Feu: An English carpenter and writer whom she married in 1973. Their marriage ended in divorce around 1981.
Biographical sources sometimes differ in their dates and descriptions of these relationships. Biography.com lists all three men among Angelou’s spouses, while historical research published by Cambridge University Press discusses evidence that she and Make regarded themselves as husband and wife without formally marrying.
Consequently, readers looking up Maya Angelou’s husband should understand that Tosh Angelos and Paul du Feu are identified as husbands in established biographies, while Make’s legal marital status is disputed in the historical record.
1. Tosh Angelos: Maya Angelou’s First Husband
Tosh Angelos was the man Maya Angelou married early in her adult life. He is described in biographical accounts as a former sailor and electrician who had Greek ancestry.
Angelou married Angelos in 1949 or around 1950, depending on the source. The Women’s History website records the marriage as beginning in 1949 and ending in divorce in 1952. The Poetry Foundation also identifies Angelos as her husband, placing their marriage in 1950.
Their relationship began when Angelou was a young woman navigating work, motherhood and her ambitions as a performer. At that stage, she was still building the foundation of the career that would eventually make her a prominent literary and cultural figure.
Why did Maya Angelou keep the Angelou surname?
One of the most interesting details about her first marriage is the origin of the surname by which the world knows her.
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson. After marrying Tosh Angelos, she adopted a version of his surname and continued using it professionally long after their relationship ended.
The spelling evolved from Angelos to Angelou. The name became inseparable from her public identity, appearing on her books, poetry collections, recordings and other creative work.
Her decision to retain the name meant that her former husband’s surname remained part of literary history, even though their marriage had ended decades before her death.
How long were they married?
The Women’s History website gives the period as 1949 to 1952. Other biographies place the wedding in 1950 and describe the relationship as ending after a few years.
The precise wedding year varies across sources, but the broad chronology is consistent: Angelos was her first husband, and their marriage ended in the early 1950s.
Sources: National Women’s History Museum; Poetry Foundation; Biography.com.
2. Vusumzi Make: The South African Activist in Her Life
Vusumzi Make was an important figure in Angelou’s personal history during a period of growing political engagement and international travel.
Make was a South African political activist associated with the struggle against apartheid. Angelou met him in late 1960, during a period when she was becoming increasingly involved in civil rights and anti-colonial activism.
Their relationship developed as Angelou’s world expanded beyond the United States. She had become active in the civil rights movement and worked with organizations associated with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Did Maya Angelou legally marry Vusumzi Make?
This is the most disputed question in discussions about Maya Angelou’s husbands.
Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute states that Angelou and Make married in January 1961. Its account says that she resigned from her position with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that month and later moved to Cairo with Make and her son.
However, a scholarly article published in the Journal of Global History by Cambridge University Press presents a different interpretation based on historical research. It explains that Angelou and Make referred to each other as husband and wife but did not formally marry.
This disagreement should not be ignored. The sources support the conclusion that they had a significant relationship, but they differ on the legal status of that relationship.
It would therefore be inaccurate to present their marriage as an uncontested fact.
Their life in Egypt and Ghana
Angelou’s relationship with Make coincided with an important international chapter in her life.
In 1962, Angelou moved to Cairo, Egypt, with her son and Make. During her time in Egypt, she worked as an editor for the English-language newspaper Arab Observer.
She later moved to Ghana with her son and continued working in writing, journalism and education. Her years in Africa helped shape her political outlook and contributed to the international perspective reflected in her autobiographical writing.
These experiences also provide context for her relationship with Make. Their connection unfolded during a period of political change, international activism and personal transformation.
What happened to their relationship?
Their relationship eventually ended. Historical and biographical accounts describe Angelou continuing her life and work independently after the separation.
The available sources do not establish one universally accepted legal timeline for the relationship. The distinction between their partnership and a formal marriage remains important when describing her personal history.
Sources: Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute; Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press; Biography.com.
3. Paul du Feu: Maya Angelou’s Later Husband
Paul du Feu was the third man widely identified as Maya Angelou’s husband in biographical accounts.
Du Feu was an English carpenter and writer. Angelou married him in 1973, according to Biography.com and other biographical references. Some accounts give the wedding date as December 1973, while others use 1974.
The couple lived in Berkeley, California, during their marriage. Their relationship lasted several years before ending in divorce around 1981.
By this period, Angelou had already established herself as an author and performer. Her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, had been published in 1969, bringing her experiences and literary voice to a much wider readership.
How long did their marriage last?
The commonly cited period is approximately 1973 to 1981, although some references differ slightly on the beginning date.
This makes du Feu the husband associated with a substantial later chapter of Angelou’s personal life. Nevertheless, their marriage eventually ended, and Angelou continued to focus on writing, teaching, speaking and public service.
Did Maya Angelou marry again after Paul du Feu?
The established biographical accounts consulted for this article do not identify a later marriage after her relationship with du Feu ended.
Angelou continued to have a full public and professional life in the following decades. She became widely recognized not only for her books and poems but also for her contributions to education, civil rights and American cultural life.
Source: Biography.com; Encyclopedia.com.
Key Details About Maya Angelou’s Marriages
The following summary brings together the main details reported in established biographies.
- Birth name: Marguerite Annie Johnson.
- First widely documented husband: Tosh Angelos.
- First marriage: 1949 or around 1950, depending on the source.
- First divorce: 1952.
- Significant later partner: Vusumzi Make, a South African political activist.
- Make relationship: Began around 1960; whether they legally married is disputed.
- Later husband: Paul du Feu.
- Du Feu marriage: 1973, with some sources giving 1974.
- End of marriage to du Feu: Around 1981.
- Son: Guy Johnson, born Clyde Johnson.
- Date of death: May 28, 2014.
These details should be read with the source differences in mind. Angelou’s relationship history is not documented identically across all biographical references.
Background: Maya Angelou’s Family and Early Life
Understanding Angelou’s marriages also requires looking at the broader circumstances of her life.
She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928. Following her parents’ separation, she and her older brother spent part of their childhood living with their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.
Her childhood experiences, including racial discrimination and personal trauma, later became central to her autobiographical writing. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, published in 1969, she wrote about growing up, confronting hardship and discovering the power of language.
Angelou became a mother while still a teenager. Her son, born Clyde Johnson, later became known as Guy Johnson. She worked in a variety of jobs while raising him and gradually developed a career that included singing, dancing, acting and writing.
Her experiences as a young mother help explain why her family history cannot be separated from her professional development. She built her career through several stages of life rather than following a single, conventional path.
As her work gained recognition, she became a major literary voice whose writing explored the relationships between personal experience and wider social issues.
Sources: Biography.com; National Women’s History Museum; Poetry Foundation.
What Officials and Organizations Have Said About Her Relationships
There is no recent official announcement about Angelou’s marriages because the events took place decades ago and Angelou died in 2014. The most useful evidence comes from established biographical and scholarly sources.
Biography.com
Biography.com lists Tosh Angelos, Vusumzi Make and Paul du Feu among the men Angelou married. It also notes that details of her relationships have not always been consistent across accounts of her life.
Stanford University
Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute identifies Make as Angelou’s husband and dates their marriage to January 1961. Its account also documents Angelou’s move to Cairo with Make and her son.
National Women’s History Museum
The National Women’s History Museum identifies Tosh Angelos as Angelou’s first husband and records their marriage as lasting from 1949 to 1952.
Cambridge University Press
A scholarly article in the Journal of Global History presents evidence that Angelou and Make described themselves as husband and wife without formally marrying. This offers a different interpretation from Stanford’s biographical account.
Taken together, these sources establish the broad outline of Angelou’s personal history while demonstrating why some details require qualification.
Why Maya Angelou’s Marriage History Matters
Interest in Maya Angelou’s husband is part of a larger interest in the life behind her writing.
Her autobiographies are important because they connect her personal experiences with the social conditions of her time. Readers often want to understand how her family, relationships, motherhood and travels shaped her outlook.
However, it would be misleading to assume that her marriages alone explain her achievements. Angelou’s legacy rests primarily on her literary work, public speaking, education and civil rights activism.
Her writing brought attention to subjects such as racism, identity, dignity, perseverance and the ability to recover from hardship. Her experiences informed that work, but her contribution extended far beyond her private relationships.
The history of her surname also illustrates how personal decisions can become part of a public identity. Although her marriage to Tosh Angelos ended, the name Angelou remained associated with some of the most recognized works in modern American literature.
Her relationship with Make also reflects the international dimension of her life, while her marriage to du Feu belongs to a later chapter in her personal story.
What Happens Next?
There are no upcoming developments concerning Angelou’s marriages. Her relationship history is a historical subject, not a developing news story.
Future biographies or archival research may help clarify disputed details, particularly the legal status of her relationship with Vusumzi Make. Until stronger evidence resolves the disagreement, responsible reporting should explain the difference between sources rather than state one interpretation as certain.
Readers seeking a deeper understanding of Angelou’s life can explore her autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, alongside institutional biographies and scholarly historical research.
These sources offer a fuller understanding of her personal experiences, international travels, political commitments and literary achievements.
Frequently Asked Questions About Maya Angelou’s Husband
1. Who was Maya Angelou’s husband?
Maya Angelou was married to Tosh Angelos and later to Paul du Feu. She also had a significant relationship with Vusumzi Make, whose legal marital status with Angelou is disputed in historical accounts.
2. How many times was Maya Angelou married?
Biographical sources commonly identify three relationships as marriages: those involving Tosh Angelos, Vusumzi Make and Paul du Feu. However, scholarly research disputes whether Make and Angelou legally married. Therefore, the number of legally documented marriages depends on which historical account is followed.
3. Who was Maya Angelou’s first husband?
Her first widely documented husband was Tosh Angelos, a former sailor and electrician. They married in 1949 or around 1950 and divorced in 1952, according to established biographies.
4. Was Maya Angelou married to Vusumzi Make?
Some sources, including Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, describe Make as her husband and record their marriage in January 1961. A scholarly article published by Cambridge University Press, however, states that they referred to each other as husband and wife without formally marrying. The historical accounts therefore differ.
5. Who was Maya Angelou’s last husband?
Paul du Feu is generally identified as Maya Angelou’s last husband. They married in 1973, although some sources give 1974, and divorced around 1981.
6. Why did Maya Angelou keep her husband’s surname?
Angelou adopted a version of Tosh Angelos’s surname after their marriage and continued using it professionally after their divorce. The name became her lasting literary identity.
7. Did Maya Angelou have children?
Yes. Maya Angelou had one son, Guy Johnson, who was born Clyde Johnson in 1944. She raised him while developing her career in performance and literature.
8. When did Maya Angelou die?
Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86. She was remembered for her influential autobiographies, poetry, teaching and civil rights work.
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