CJ Langenhoven

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CJ Langenhoven with his wife at the church in Oudtshoorn , at the wedding of their daughter Engela (1926)

CJ Langenhoven (born August 13, 1873 in Hoeko near Ladismith , Cape Colony ; † July 15, 1932 in Oudtshoorn ; real name Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven; also known as Sagmoedige Neelsie and Oom Kerneels ) was a writer, politician and journalist in the South African Cape Province . He wrote in Afrikaans , campaigned politically for this language and wrote the text of the former national anthem of South Africa, The Stem van Suid-Afrika .

Life

Langenhoven was born on Farm Hoeko, at the foot of the Swartberge . His mother Rachel died five days after he was born, so he grew up with his aunt and uncle. He studied at the University of Stellenbosch , acquired in 1895 a Bachelor of Arts and received in 1899 at the University of Good Hope Cape Town a Bachelor in Law . From then on he worked as a lawyer in Cape Town and from 1901 in Oudtshoorn. In 1897 he married the widow Lenie van Velden, in 1901 they became parents of a daughter, Engela. In 1912 Langenhoven took up a position as an editor at the Dutch- language newspaper Het Zuid-Westen in Oudtshoorner . In 1914 Langenhoven became a member of the Provincial Board of Directors of the Cape Province, in 1920 he was elected to the National Assembly and finally he was appointed Senator. There he campaigned for Afrikaans to be recognized as the official language instead of Dutch . In 1927 he achieved this goal. In 1915 he was also a founding member of the Afrikaans-language newspaper Die Burger , for which he wrote under the name Sagmoedige Neelsie (roughly: "Gentle Neelsie"). In 1918 he wrote the text for Die Stem van Suid-Afrika. Parts of the text are also included in the South African national anthem, which has been in effect since 1994.

Langenhoven wrote numerous other works, including poetry collections, ghost stories and the science fiction novel Loeloeraai. In 1926 he published Donker Spore, the first detective novel in Afrikaans. He translated works such as the Rubayat of Omar Khayyam into Afrikaans, created proverbs and wrote a humorous love poem to his dog. The fictional elephant Herrie appears in numerous stories , whose name he engraved on a stone at the N12 - the stone is now a national monument. Langenhoven was considered a humorous nonconformist and was known for his quick-wittedness.

Langenhoven died of heart failure in his house in Oudtshoorn in 1932 . He was buried on his property.

Works

Novels / prose
  • 1911: Stukkies en brokkies. a collection of poems, short stories and essays
    • Extended edition 1913: Ons weg deur die wêreld
  • 1912: Afrikaanse verjaardag-boekie
  • 1921: probe met the bure
  • 1921: Doppers en Filistyne
  • 1923: Loeloeraai
  • 1924: The Lig van verre dae
  • 1925: Herrie op die óu tremspóór
  • 1926: Donker Spore
  • 1927: Skaduwees van Nasaret
  • 'n Fragment uit' n onuitgeebare boek
  • Song van die harlekyn
  • Pessimisme en optimisme
Sayings
  • Spreuke Van Langenhoven (edited by JP Scannell)
  • Best Spreuke Van Langenhoven
Dramas
  • 1921: Vrouetrou
  • 1931: Petronella
Farces
  • 1909: The familiesak
  • 1909: the troubelofte
  • 1920: The onmoontlike tweeling
  • 1925: The laaste van die takhare
  • 1927: The Kinderparlement
Children's books and ghost stories
  • 1922: the eensame hoop
  • 1924: Geeste op aarde
  • 1925: Brolloks en Bittergal
  • 1926: Mof en sy mense
  • 1927: The Krismiskinders
  • 1928: The boekie sonder naam
  • 1930: The wandering geraamte
  • 1931: Verhaaltjies
  • Kootjie Totjie (illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden)
Legal, historical and political writings
  • 1906: Iets over arbiters en arbitraties
  • 1913: The Hoop van Suid-Afrika
  • 1918: The Vrou van Suid-Afrika
  • 1918: Republicans and sinners
  • 1919: The everlasting annexation
  • 1919: Twee expert opstelle
  • 1921: First skoffies op die pad van Suid-Afrika
  • 1928: The goeie burger
  • 1929: Goud of paper?
  • 1929: The witman se pand
About Afrikaans
  • 1923: The opdraende pad
  • 1926: A first guide to Afrikaans
  • 1931: Hoe om te skrywe
  • 1937: Oor opstelle
Columns from the burger
  • 1930: Aan stille waters
  • 1941: Aan stille waters II
Autobiography
  • 1932: U diewillige dienaar
Collected Works
  • 1933–1937: Cape Town, 14 volumes.
  • From 1949: 16 volumes.

Awards

aftermath

  • The student center of the University of Stellenbosch is named after him; it is sometimes referred to as The Neelsie .
  • The South African filmmaker Manie van Rensburg shot the comedic television series Sagmoedige Neelsie in 1983 based on Langenhagen's work.
  • For his 100th birthday, the South African Post issued several special stamps.
  • The house in Oudtshoorn, known as Arbeidsgenot (roughly: “work pleasure ”), used by Langenhoven from 1901 onwards , is now a museum.
  • During his imprisonment in 1964, Nelson Mandela read the Langenhoven work Skaduwees van Nasaret (roughly: Shadow of Nazaret) about the condemnation of Jesus to death, which touched him deeply.
  • In his novel Sandkastele (German: Sandburgen ), set at the time of the 1994 elections, André Brink lets a black man become a lover of a book by Langenhoven, while the white protagonist rejects Langenhoven as antiquated - an ironic reversal of the situation during apartheid .

literature

Web links

Commons : Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Curriculum Vitae of Langenhovens (Afrikaans), accessed on March 8, 2014
  2. ↑ The Hymns of South Africa (PDF, Afrikaans / English), accessed on March 8, 2014
  3. ↑ Report at holiday-homes-sa.com ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  4. ↑ Staaltjies rondom the skerpsinnigheid van CJ Langenhoven. ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: Die Burger from July 1, 2000 (Afrikaans; archive version)
  5. ↑ a b portrait at nb.co.za (English), accessed on March 9, 2014
  6. ↑ The house of CJ Langenhovens in Oudtshoorn (Afrikaans), accessed on March 10, 2014
  7. ↑ Portrait and list of works at stellenboschwriters.com (English), accessed on March 9, 2014
  8. ^ Nelson Mandela : Conversations with Myself. Farrow, Strauss and Giroux, New York City 2011, ISBN 978-1-4299-8839-1 . Digitized
personal data
SURNAME Langenhoven, CJ
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Langenhoven, Cornelis Jacobus (real name); Sagmoedige Neelsie (pseudonym); Oom Kerneels (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African writer, politician and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Hoeko , Cape Colony
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1932
Place of death Oudtshoorn