Benedict Wallet Vilakazi (6 January 1906 – 26 October 1947) was a South African

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

, a descendant of the

Zulu royal family The Zulu royal family consists of the king of the Zulus, his consorts, and all of his legitimate descendants. The legitimate descendants of all previous kings are also sometimes considered to be members. History King Misuzulu kaZwelithini's ...

, and author of

Romantic poetry Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18t ...

in the

Zulu language Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

. Vilakazi was also a professor at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became the first

Black South African Racial groups in South Africa have a variety of origins. The racial categories introduced by Apartheid remain ingrained in South African society with South Africans and the South African government continuing to classify themselves, and each o ...

to teach University classes to

White South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settle ...

. In 1946, Vilakazi also became the first Black South African to receive a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

. Vilakazi Street in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...

, which is named after the poet, is now very famous as the street where both

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

and Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

once lived.

Early life and education

Benedict Vilakazi was born Bambatha kaMshini in 1906 at the Groutville Mission Station near KwaDukuza, Natal (now

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

), the fifth child of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

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s Mshini ka Makhwatha and Leah Hlongwane. His mother, Mrs Leah Hlongwane Vilakazi, was the daughter of Bangile, who was the sister of Queen Ngqambuza, wife to King Cetshwayo, and also the sister of the Right Reverend J Mdelwa Hlongwane ka Mnyaziwezulu, the son of Chief Matiwane. Vilakazi split his childhood between herding the family's

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

and the local mission school until the age of 10, at which point he transferred to the St. Francis College in Mariannhill, a coeducational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

founded by the Mariannhillers' local Trappist monastery. Here he was baptized with the name "Benedict Wallet," although at his mother's insistence he kept the

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

of Vilakazi. He obtained a teaching certificate in 1923 and taught at Mariannhill and later at a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Ixopo Ixopo is a town situated on a tributary of the Mkhomazi River along the R56 highway in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Background Ixopo was formerly known as Stuartstown, was laid out in 1878 and named after M Stuart, Resident Mag ...

Writing, teaching, research

In 1933, Vilakazi released his first novel ''Nje nempela'' ("Really and Truly"), one of the first works of Zulu

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...

to treat modern subject matter. He followed it in 1935 with the novel ''Noma nini'' as well as a poetry collection ''Inkondlo kaZulu'', the first publication of European-influenced Zulu poetry. His poetry, heavily influenced by the verse of the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an Romantics, introduced literary themes as well as both

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

and poetic meters previously unknown in Zulu literature, while combining them with elements of the '' Izibongo'' tradition of

praise poetry A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...

Earning a B.A. from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

in 1934, Vilakazi began work in the

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle * Black Association for Nationa ...

studies department at the University of Witwatersrand in 1936 under

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

C. M. Doke, with whom he created a Zulu-English dictionary. Vilakazi's teaching position made him the first black South African to teach

white South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settle ...

at the university level. Vilakazi's later novels continued to explore daily life in traditional Zulu culture, such as ''UDingiswayo kaJobe'' (1939) and ''Nje nempela'' (1944), which is the story of a

polygamous Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marri ...

Zulu family. His poetry became increasingly political in the course of his life, dramatizing the exploitation and discrimination not only against the

Zulu people Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

, but also against other

black South Africans Racial groups in South Africa have a variety of origins. The racial categories introduced by Apartheid remain ingrained in South African society with South Africans and the South African government continuing to classify themselves, and each o ...

as well. Vilakazi is also noted for his scholarly work on

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and the Zulu and Xhosa languages, which on 16 March 1946, earned him the first PhD to be awarded to a black South African. A year after receiving his doctorate, Benedict Wallet Vilakazi died in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

. Both his novels and poetry were well received in his own lifetime and remain so today.

Posthumous honors

On 28 April 2016, the Order of Ikhamanga - Gold (OIG) was conferred on Dr Benedict Wallet Vilakazi posthumously‚ for "his exceptional contribution to the field of literature in indigenous languages and the preservation of isiZulu culture".

Legacy

Vilakazi Street in

is the only street in the world where two Nobel Laureates once lived. It is where

and

once lived and it was named in honour of Vilakazi. Dr B.W. Vilakazi Secondary School in Zola 3, Soweto was named after the late Dr Vilakazi in order to commemorate his legacy.

In translation

literary translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

by R.M. Mfeka and Peggy Rutherfoord of Benedict Vilakazi's poem ''Umamina'' was published in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

''African Voices: An Anthology of Native African Writing''. Edited by Peggy Rutherford , ''African Voices: An Anthology of Native African Writing'', The Vanguard Press, Inc. Pages 46-48.

Works

*''Inkondlo kaZulu'' (poetry), Witwatersrand University Press (Johannesburg), 1935. *''Noma nini'' (novel), Yacindezelwa Emshinini Wasemhlathuzane (Mariannhill, Natal), 1935. *''UDingiswayo kaJobe'' (novel), Sheldon Press (London), 1939. *''Nje nempela'' (novel), Mariannhill Mission Press (Mariannhill, Natal), 1944. *''Amal'eZulu'' (poetry), Witwatersrand University Press, 1945. *''Zulu-English Dictionary'' (with C. M. Doke), Witwatersrand University *Press, 1948. * Nini indawo *( Groutville ,Natal .

References

External links

*Zulu Kingdom
Benedict Vilakazi - a short biography and bibliography - of this KwaZulu-Natal author.
*"Benedict Wallet Vilakazi." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilakazi, Benedict Wallet 1906 births 1947 deaths People from KwaDukuza Local Municipality Zulu people South African poets 20th-century poets University of the Witwatersrand academics Linguists from South Africa University of the Witwatersrand alumni Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Neurological disease deaths in South Africa Infectious disease deaths in South Africa Catholic poets Deaths from meningitis 20th-century linguists Zulu-language poets South African Catholic poets South African Roman Catholics