C. Louis Leipoldt
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Dr. Christiaan Frederik Louis Leipoldt (December 28, 1880 — April 12, 1947) was a South African poet, who wrote in the Afrikaans language. Together with Jan F.E. Celliers and J.D. du Toit, he was one of the leading figures in the poetry of the Second Afrikaans Movement. Apart from poetry, Louis Leipoldt (Loo-ee LYE-polt) wrote novels, plays, stories, children books, cookbooks and a travel diary. He is numbered amongst the greatest of the Afrikaner poets and he was described by D.J. Opperman- himself a noted South African poet- as "our most versatile artist".[1]
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[edit] His life
Leipoldt was born in Worcester in the Cape Province, the son of a preacher. His early education was largely at home and for a while, during the Second Boer War, he was a reporter. Between 1902 and 1907, with funding from the botanist Harry Bolus, he read medicine at Guy's Hospital in London and then travelled in Europe, America and the East Indies. At times his health was poor. After that his career was varied: for a period he was a school doctor in London, before becoming the Medical Inspector of Schools in the Transvaal and then in the Cape Province. He returned to journalism for a while (1923) but finally settled down as a pediatrician in Cape Town in 1925. He never married. He died in Cape Town but, because of his deep love for the Hantam - a beautiful, mountainous and wild district north of Cape Town he was laid to rest in the rugged Pakhuis Pass (Warehouse Pass), near Clanwilliam.
[edit] His poetry
Leipoldt wrote much about nature in general and in particular about the landscapes and legends of his beloved Hantam. His poetry also deals with the suffering caused by the Second Boer War and the culture and values of the Cape Malays. His work is hard to translate into English.
[edit] Trivia
The C. Louis Leipoldt Medical Centre in Cape Town is named after C. Louis Leipoldt.
[edit] References
- ^ D.J. Opperman (undated, probably 1962). Senior verseboek, 9th impression, Cape Town: Nationale Boekhandel Ltd..
