Christian Frederik Louis Leipoldt ( ; 28 December 1880 – 12 April 1947), usually referred to as C. Louis Leipoldt, was a South African poet, dramatist, medical doctor, reporter and food expert. Together with

Jan F. E. Celliers Jan Francois Elias Celliers, almost universally known as Jan F.E. Celliers, but occasionally as Jan F.E. Cilliers (12 January 1865 – 1 June 1940) was an Afrikaans-language poet, essayist, dramatist and reviewer. Celliers was one of the three ...

and J. D. du Toit, he was one of the leading figures in the poetry of the

Second Afrikaans Movement The Afrikaans language movement is one of three efforts that have been organised to promote Afrikaans in South Africa.Hein Willemse"More than an oppressor’s language: reclaiming the hidden history of Afrikaans" ''theconversation.com'', April 27, 2 ...

. Apart from poetry, Leipoldt wrote novels, plays, stories, children's books, cookbooks and a travel diary. He is numbered amongst the greatest of the Afrikaner poets and he was described by

D. J. Opperman Diederik (or Dirk) Johannes Opperman, commonly referred to as D.J. Opperman ( 29 September 1914 – 22 September 1985) was an Afrikaans poet. Biography He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in ...

, himself a noted South African poet, as "our most versatile artist".

Biography

Leipoldt was born in Worcester in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, the son of a preacher, Christian Friedrich Leipoldt, of the NG Kerk in Clanwilliam and grandson of the Rhenish missionary, Johann Gottlieb Leipoldt, who founded Wupperthal in the Cederberg. His mother was Anna Meta Christiana Esselen, daughter of Louis Franz Esselen (1817–1893), another Rhenish missionary at Worcester. His early education was largely at home and for a while, during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, he was a reporter. Between 1902 and 1907, with funding from the botanist Harry Bolus, he read medicine at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science cent ...

in London and travelled in Europe, America and the East Indies. At times his health was poor. For a period of some six months during 1908, he was the personal physician of the American newspaper magnate,

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the '' St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...

, aboard Pulitzer's yacht. Later Leipoldt's career was varied. For a period he was a school medical doctor in London before becoming the Medical Inspector of Schools in the Transvaal and then in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. He returned to journalism for a while (1923) but finally settled down as a

paediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

in 1925. He never married. He died in Cape Town but, because of his deep love for the Hantam— a mountainous and wild district north of

— his ashes were laid to rest in the rugged

Pakhuis Pass Pakhuis Pass is a mountain pass on the R364 in the northern Cederberg in South Africa. The pass connects Clanwilliam to Calvinia. A turnoff from the pass heads southeast to the Biedouw Valley and Wupperthal. The pass is 25 km long, reaches ...

(Storehouse Pass), near Clanwilliam. Feint Rock Art

His grave is situated at the base of a cave-like opening on the mountain face. Directly above his tombstone there are faint drawings on the sandstone that were made by Bushmen many years before his death. Leipoldt had an adopted son, Jeffery Barnet Leipoldt. Jeffery died on 21 November 1997. His ashes were scattered on his father's grave. Jeffery has three daughters, Nerina, Karen and Desre, who live in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Poetry

''The Worst Horror'' :''This is the bitterest thing of all my day,'' ::''That which I have loved so well, that now is dead'' ::''And in a coffin laid away, of lead'' :''And cedarwood, immortal somewhere stays,'' :''Or as a ghost-cloud goes its lonely ways'' ::''By strange and boundless forces urged ahead,'' ::''Perhaps, like me, forlorn, uncomforted,'' :''But out of reach, howe'er one pleads or prays,'' :''Day after day with unending lament.'' ::''This is the bitterest thing, that I no hand'' :::''Can reach to help, or comfort to impart,'' :''No aid can give, and no encouragement;'' ::''And that there wanders in that ghostly land'' :::''Forlorn, that which I loved with all my heart!'' (Translated by C. J. D Harvey) 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 Cape Malays (, in Arabies script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world who lived at the Cape du ...

. Most of his work does not translate well into English.

Dietetics

Leipoldt authored the book ''Common-Sense Dietetics'' in 1911. In the book he argued against total abstainers from both alcohol and meat. Leipoldt heavily criticized

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetaria ...

. A review in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origin ...

'' commented that "We cannot help doubting whether all the author's opinions so dogmatically expressed are based upon an experience that can justify them, for many of his comments suggest that he is speaking rather from hearsay than from personal knowledge. Nevertheless, he has written a lively and entertaining book, which we have no doubt will find many admirers among those who wish to eat and drink well." In 1936, Leipoldt updated his book under the title ''The Belly Book''. A review of the book concluded that its chapter on diet and disease is "useless both to the doctor and to the layman, and abounds in statements for which there is no scientific justification."

Legacy

The C. Louis Leipoldt Medical Centre in Cape Town is named after the poet, as is the Louis Leipoldt Primary School in Lyttelton (Centurion). In 1927, botanist

L.Bolus Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus ''née'' Kensit (31 July 1877, Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970, Cape Town) was a South African botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of authorin ...

published a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s from Namibia and the Cape Provinces, belonging to the family

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and New ...

, as ''

Leipoldtia ''Leipoldtia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Aizoaceae. It is native to Namibia and the Cape Provinces (region of the South African Republic). The genus name of ''Leipoldtia'' is in honour of C. Louis Leipoldt Chris ...

'' in his honour.

Selected publications

*''Common-Sense Dietetics'' (1911)
''The Belly Book: Or Diner's Guide''
(1936) *''Bushveld Doctor'' (1937) *''300 Years of Cape Wine'' (1974) *''Leipoldt's Cape Cookery'' (1976)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leipoldt, C. Louis 1880 births 1947 deaths 20th-century South African poets Afrikaans-language poets Afrikaner people Critics of vegetarianism Dietitians People from Worcester, South Africa South African poets