Anna Böeseken (born ''Anna Jacoba Böeseken'' in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

on 23 October 1905; died on 28 June 1997 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) was a South African history academic, journalist and writer who wrote under the pen name AJ. She is best known for her expertise as an authority of the history of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

that existed between 1602 and 1798.

Biography

Böeseken's parents were originally Dutch. She studied in both South Africa and Europe before the second world war. She is regarded by modern scholars as one of the leading experts on the history and evolution of the

. The 2013 publication in the journal Historia volume 48, Issue 2, titled "Historia - Dr. Anna Boëseken (1905-1997) : kenner van die Kaapse VOC-geskiedenis (English: Expert of Cape VOC history) "examined her contribution in making the history of the VOC in South Africa accessible and interpreting it for both the expert and layman". On June 18, 1964 she founded the Genealogical Society which published a quarterly journal ''Familia''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Böeseken, Anna 1997 deaths 1905 births Writers from Pretoria Transvaal Colony people Afrikaner people Members of the Reformed Churches in South Africa 20th-century South African historians 20th-century South African women writers South African women historians 20th-century South African journalists