Elisabeth Françoise Eybers (26 February 1915 – 1 December 2007) was a South African

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

. Her poetry was mainly in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

, although she translated some of her own work (and those of others) into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

. Eybers was born in

Klerksdorp Klerksdorp () is located in the North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp, the largest city in the North West Province, is located southeast of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Rep ...

, Transvaal. She grew up in the town of Schweizer-Reneke, where her father was the local

dominee In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual gui ...

of the

Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Three churches from the Dutch Reformed Church tradition in South Africa are often mentioned together as "three sister churches". They are the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK), and Reformed C ...

church. After completing her

high 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 ...

studies there at the age of 16, she enrolled at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

for a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathemati ...

, which she achieved ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

''. After her graduation she became a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. In 1937 Eybers married the businessman

Albert Wessels Albert Wessels (1 October 1908 - 22 July 1991) was a South African industrialist and the founder of Toyota South Africa. Toyota South Africa can trace its roots back to 1961, when Wessels obtained a permit to import ten ''Toyopet Stout'' picku ...

, with whom she had three daughters and a son. Counted among the so-called Dertigers, she became the first Afrikaans woman to win the Hertzog Prize for poetry in 1943. She won the prize again in 1971. Her work received many other awards in both South Africa and the Netherlands, including the

Constantijn Huygens Prize The Constantijn Huygens Prize (Dutch: ''Constantijn Huygens-prijs'') is a Dutch literary award.P. C. Hooft Award in 1991. Eybers' first collection of poems, ''Belydenis in die Skemering'' ("Confession at twilight"), was published in 1936. Her second collection, ''Die Stil Avontuur'' ("The silent adventure"), was published in 1939 and was mainly about being a mother. ''Die Vrou en ander verse'' (The woman and other poems) was published in 1945 while her fourth poetry collection, ''Die Ander Dors'' (The other thirst) was published in 1946. Many other poetry collections followed regularly, including: * ''Tussensang'' (In-between song), 1950 * ''Helder Halfjaar'' (Bright half-year), 1956 * ''Versamelde Gedigte'' (Collected poems), 1957 * ''Neerslag'' (Precipitation), 1958 * ''Balans'' (Balance), 1962 * ''Onderdak'' (Under shelter), 1965 * ''Kruis of Munt'' (Head or tail), 1973 Later works include the bilingual ''Verbruikersverse''/Consumer's verse (1997) en Winter-surplus (1999). Translations of her poems have also been published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Among the settings of her poetry by South African composers are "Die Vreemde Dae" by Cromwell Everson and two song cycles by

Hendrik Hofmeyr Hendrik Pienaar Hofmeyr (born 20 November 1957) is a South African composer. Born in Cape Town, he furthered his studies in Italy during 10 years of self-imposed exile as a conscientious objector. While there, he won the South African Opera Co ...

, "Drie gedigte van Elisabeth Eybers" (1984) and "DIe stil avontuur" (2003) http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/hofmeyrh.htm Dutch composer

Bertha Tideman-Wijers Albertha Wilhelmina Tideman-Wijers (8 January 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a Dutch composer who lived in Indonesia for almost two decades and incorporated Indonesian elements into her compositions. She published her music under the name Bertha Tide ...

used Eybers' text for her composition ''Three Songs on a South African tex''t. Dutch composer Marjo Tal also set several of Eybers’ poems to music. After her divorce in 1961 she met

Pieter Hennipman Pieter Hennipman (12 September 1911 – 3 July 1994) was a Dutch economist, Professor of Economics at the University of Amsterdam, who is considered the "leading Dutch economist of the post-war period." Biography Born in Leiden, Hennipman r ...

. They were married from 1974 until his death in 1994.Ena Jansen (1998) ''Afstand & verbintenis''. p. 107 She lived in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Netherlands, and she was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

References

External links

*
Bibliography & texts on Elisabeth Eybers
in the

Digital Library for Dutch Literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eybers, Elisabeth 1915 births 2007 deaths Afrikaans-language poets Calvinist and Reformed poets South African women poets Afrikaner people Constantijn Huygens Prize winners P. C. Hooft Award winners Hertzog Prize winners for poetry University of the Witwatersrand alumni 20th-century South African poets 20th-century South African women writers