Trevor Noah was born in Johannesburg. His mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is a black Xhosa woman. His father, Robert, is white and Swiss German. Noah’s parents’ interracial relationship was illegal under apartheid at the time of his birth. As a boy, Noah attended Maryvale College, a private Catholic school. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Nomalizo Frances Noah, in the township of Soweto. His memoir, "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" (2016), is about his youth as a mixed-race child and is dedicated to his mother.