Laurens van der Post

Sir Laurens Jan van der Post (aka Laurens van der Post) December 13, 1906 – December 16, 1996. Famous 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of state, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and conservationist.

Early years

Laurens was born in the small town of Philippolis in the Orange River Colony, a British colony in what is today South Africa. His father, Christiaan Willem Hendrik van der Post (1856–1914), of Dutch origin, had arrived in South Africa at the age of three and later married Laurens's mother in 1889. Her name was Lammie and she was of German origin. The family had a total of fifteen children, with Laurens being the thirteenth, the fifth son. Christiaan was a lawyer and politician, and fought in the Boer War against the British. After the second Boer War he was exiled with his family to Stellenbosch, where Laurens was conceived. They returned to Philipolis in the Orange River Colony in 1906, where Laurens was born.

Related Topics:
Philippolis - Orange River Colony - South Africa - Dutch - Boer War - Stellenbosch

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Lauren spent his early childhood years on the family farm, remembering how he became a fan of reading books from his father's extensive library which included Homer and Shakespeare. In August 1914 his father died and then in 1918 Laurens went to school at Grey College in Bloemfontein. There it was a great shock to him that he was "being educated into something which destroyed the sense of common humanity I shared with the black people". In 1925 he took his first job as a reporter in training at The Natal Advertiser in Durban, where his reporting included his own accomplishments playing on the Durban and Natal hockey teams. In 1926 he and two other rebellious writers, Roy Campbell and William Plomer, published a satirical magazine called Voorslag (English: suggestion or first strike) which promoted a more racially integrated South Africa; it lasted for three issues before being forced to shut down because of its radical views. Later that year he took off for three months with Plomer and sailed to Tokyo and back on a Japanese freighter, the Canada Maru, an experience which produced books by both authors later in life.

Related Topics:
1914 - Grey College - Bloemfontein - The Natal Advertiser - Durban - Hockey - Roy Campbell - William Plomer - English

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In 1927 Lauren met Marjorie Edith Wendt (d. 1995), daughter of the founder and conductor of the Cape Town Orchestra. They traveled to England and on March 8, 1928 married at Bridport, Dorset. A son was born soon after on December 26, named Jan Laurens (later known as John). In 1929 Laurens returned to South Africa to work for the Cape Times, a newspaper in Cape Town, where "For the time being Marjorie and I are living in the most dire poverty that exists," he wrote in his journal. He began to associate with rebel Bohemians and intellectuals who were opposed to James Hertzog (Prime Minister) and the white South African policy. He wrote an article entitled 'South Africa in the Melting Pot' which clarified his views of the South Africa racial problem, he said "The white South African has never consciously believed that the native should ever become his equal." But he predicted that "the process of leveling up and inter-mixture must accelerate continually ... the future civilization of South Africa is, I believe, neither black or white but brown."

Related Topics:
Cape Town Orchestra - Bridport - Dorset - Cape Town - James Hertzog - Prime Minister

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In 1931 he returned to England and formed friendships with members of the Bloomsbury group including Arthur Waley, J. M. Keynes, E. M. Forster and Virginia Woolf. Virginia and her husband Leonard Woolf were publishers, and had previously published William Plomers's works, and it was through Plomer's connections that Laurens gained introduction to the Woolfs and the somewhat exclusive and scandalous "Bloomsberries".

Related Topics:
Bloomsbury group - Arthur Waley - J. M. Keynes - E. M. Forster - Virginia Woolf - Leonard Woolf

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In 1934 the Woolfs published Laurens's first novel under the Hogarth Press label. Called In a Province, it protrayed the tragic consequences of a racially divided South Africa. Later that year he decided to become a dairy farmer and, possibly with the help of Lilian Bowes Lyon, bought a farm called Colley Farm, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, with Lilian as his neighbor. There he divided his time between the needs of the cows and occasional visits to London where he was a correspondent to South African newspapers. He considered this a directionless phase in his life which mirrored Europe's slow drift to war. In 1936 he made five trips to South Africa and during one trip he met and fell in love with Ingaret Giffard (d. 1997), an English actress and author five years his senior. Later that year his wife Marjorie gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Lucia, and in 1938 he sent his family back to South Africa. When the war started in 1939 he found himself torn between England and South Africa, his new love and his family; his career was at a dead end, and he was in depressed spirits, often drinking heavily.

Related Topics:
Hogarth Press - Lilian Bowes Lyon - Tetbury - Gloucestershire - Ingaret Giffard - War

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