George Bizos (Greek: Γιώργος Μπίζος;[2] 14 November 1927 – 9 September 2020) was a Greek-South African human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa.

[3] He was born on 14 November 1927, although this was erroneously recorded on his South African identity documents as 1928, owing to his father's declaration to the authorities upon arrival in Egypt.

[4] In May 1941 at the age of thirteen, Bizos and his father helped seven New Zealand Army soldiers (Don Gladding, Mick Karup, Peter Martin, John Lewis and three others) who were hiding in the hills to escape the German-occupied Greek mainland for Crete.

The 9 set out to sea at night, with only a cheap compass and a map torn from an atlas, intending to escape to Crete.

[7] At the Rivonia Trial from 1963 to 1964, Bizos was part of the team that defended Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu.

[6] This trial saw the arrival of a group of human rights lawyers – Joel Joffe, Harry Schwarz, Arthur Chaskalson and Harold Hanson.

[11] Together with Arthur Chaskalson and Dennis Kuny, he also represented the NUSAS Five who were charged with furthering the aims of the African National Congress and communism in 1975.

He was involved in the drafting of legislation, and particularly the Truth and Reconciliation Bill and amendments to the Criminal Procedures Act, to bring it into line with Chapter 3 of the constitution, guaranteeing fundamental human rights to all citizens of South Africa.

[7] During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, he was the leader of the team that opposed applications for amnesty on behalf of the Biko, Hani,[8] Goniwe, Calata, Mkonto, Mhlauli, Slovo and Schoon families.

[22] In 2017 Bizos appeared along with surviving defendants at the Rivonia Trial, Denis Goldberg, Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada, along with fellow defence lawyers Joel Joffe and Denis Kuny, in a documentary film entitled Life is Wonderful, directed by Sir Nicholas Stadlen,[23] which tells the story of the trial.

The title reflects Goldberg's words to his mother at the end of the trial on hearing that he and his comrades had been spared the death sentence.