Edith Frances Mary Struben (1868 - 21 October 1936) was a South African botanical illustrator and painter. She was the eldest daughter of

Harry Struben Harry Struben, born Hendrik Wilhelm Struben and also known as Henry William Struben (9 October 1840, Lower Rhine, Germany – 18 October 1915, Rosebank, Cape Town), was a South African randlord. He was the brother of Frederick Struben; togethe ...

, a pioneer gold miner on the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

. In 1885 Fred and Harry Struben discovered alluvial gold on the farm Wilgespruit (now the Kloofendal Nature Reserve) in

Roodepoort Roodepoort ( ) is a city in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg ...

. At that stage Edith was a mature 16-year-old and taking care of Charles (9) and Enid (5) since their mother was frail and living in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

. She did the housekeeping of a small cottage at Little Falls, cooked for the two youngsters and schooled them at home. She also found time to sew and paint, depicting the wild flowers she came across, landscapes, and the tented camp close to the mining operations. Fred and Harry eventually sold all their claims and property and retired to Cape Town. Harry built 'Strubenheim', a mansion which currently serves the Music Department of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. The family counted

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

and

Cecil John Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded ...

as close friends. Edith studied fine art in Paris, Rome and London, returning to South Africa in 1901 and exhibiting her watercolour landscapes regularly. She became one of the first members of the South African Society of Artists. Her works are in the collections of the

Africana Museum Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA (formerly known as the Africana Museum) is a historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. History The museum was established in 1933, when the Johannesburg Public Library bought a large quantity of ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, the

Pretoria Art Museum The Pretoria Art Museum is an art gallery located in Arcadia, Pretoria in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, n ...

and the

South African National Gallery The Iziko South African National Gallery is the national art gallery of South Africa located in Cape Town. It became part of the Iziko collection of museums – as managed by the Department of Arts and Culture – in 2001. It then became an agenc ...

in Cape Town. In 1920 she took over 'Luncarty', a Cape Peninsula gabled house in Upper Holly Street,

Newlands, Cape Town Newlands (Nuweland) is an upmarket suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is located at the foot of Table Mountain in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, and is the wettest suburb in South Africa due to its high winter rainfall. The neighborhood ...

and close to Kirstenbosch. This had been designed by Francis Kaye Kendall who was one of the business partners of

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He was ...

, for Commander Sereld Hay of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, South African Division. She was a staunch supporter of the early Botanical Society of South Africa, being vice-president at the time of her death in 1936. Her exposure to the garden stonework and paths of Italy and the Mediterranean led to her involvement in the planning and execution of the stone paths at Kirstenbosch. The succulent ''Mesembryanthemum strubeniae'' L.Bolus now known as ''Ruschia strubeniae'' Schwantes was named in Edith's honour by her friend

Louisa 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 authori ...

, as was ''Watsonia strubeniae'' L.Bolus.

Family

Edith's siblings were Arthur, Gertrude, Beatrice Mary, Fredrick, Robert, Charles, and Enid. Enid eventually married Commander

Dudley de Chair Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair (30 August 1864 – 17 August 1958) was a senior Royal Navy officer and later Governor of New South Wales. Early life and career De Chair was born on 30 August 1864 in Le ...

(1864-1958) in 1903 in Torwood near

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, Devon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Struben, Edith 1868 births 1936 deaths South African botanical illustrators South African painters South African women painters Cape Colony women 20th-century South African women artists 20th-century South African painters South African Republic people