Cecile Cilliers (May 24, 1933 – June 16, 2018) was an

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

freelance journalist and writer. The writer Madeleine van Biljon is her sister. She is predominantly known for her essays, but also published among others a children's collection and a number of religious books. She was involved in the N.G. Kerk and was the first non-ministerial woman to be elected vice-chairperson of the Sinodal Committee. In addition to her performance of the Christian Network Television's Program Focus Point, she also presented the television program Boeksusters on KykNET with her sister, Madeleine van Biljon.

Life and work

Early life

Anneke Cecile Pretorius was born in Franschhoek in 1933 as the second youngest of four children. The famous author Madeleine van Biljon is one of her sisters. She has another sister, Rouxline (also called Polla), and a brother, Nicholas. Abraham Johannes (Braam) Pretorius, her father (born 10 May 1900 at

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

, was a clerk in the magistrate's office, and her mother is Madeleine Roux. Her father was a Senator and was tallest magistrate in South Africa. As a result of his profession as magistrate, the family moved around a lot.

Education

Cilliers began her schooling in

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

, after which she went to Johannesburg to Jan Celliers Primary School. Her high school education was at Montagu, where she matriculated. After her matric year, her father was transferred to Johannesburg and she enrolled for a secretarial course at the Technical College. However, she realized that this would not offer her an attractive career. A year later she joined

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

where she obtained a B.A. degree in Afrikaans-Dutch, English, German, French and Art History as subjects.

Awards

The Tuks Alumni Association honoured her in 2011 with the Laureate Award. She is also an honorary citizen of Biesies Valley in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

Publications

Her works include:Esaach: http://www.esaach.org.za/index.php?title=Cilliers,_Cecile

Bibliography

Books

* Kannemeyer, J.C. ''Die Afrikaanse literatuur 1652–2004''. Human & Rousseau Cape Town and Pretoria First edition 2005 * Van Coller, H.P. (red.) ''Perspektief en Profiel Deel 2''. J.L. van Schaik-Uitgewers Pretoria First edition 1999

Magazines and newspaper

* De Vos, Willa. ''Haar woorde het by ’n tiekie op die tafel begin''. Die Voorligter March 1996 * Fourie, Corlia. ''Om te groet en oor te begin.'' Rooi Rose, 21 February 1996 * Rautenbach, Elmari. ''Siela en Maad.'' Insig, January 2001 * Tancred, Elise-Marie. ''Ons vroue kán dit doen''. Rooi Rose, 23 December 1998 * Van der Merwe, Lydia. ''Cecile Cilliers wys haar foto's''. Sarie, 26 February 1997

Internet

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with '' Beeld'' and '' Volksblad'', it ...

: http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1995/02/01/9/7.html * Jackson, Neels Beeld: http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1998/10/17/9/4.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cilliers, Cecile 1933 births 2018 deaths 20th-century South African women writers 21st-century South African women writers Afrikaner people Afrikaans-language writers People from Stellenbosch Local Municipality