Leslie Swartz is a clinical psychologist and a distinguished professor of psychology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He also has honourary attachments to University of Johannesburg and Western Sydney University, Australia. He is an experienced researcher known especially for his work on disability studies, disability rights, and mental health issues in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa. He has received numerous awards, including, in 2019, the Science-for-Society Gold Medal from the Academy of Science of South Africa. In addition to his scientific work, he has an interest in the use of creativity and the arts to effect social change, and he has worked on a number of projects using photography and other forms of visual expression for research and activist purposes. His memoir Able-BodiedScenes from a curious life (Zebra Press, 2010), received considerable critical acclaim.