Gideon Joubert (4 September 1923 – 27 October 2010) was a South African writer and journalist (at '' Die Burger'') who was known for his intelligent design-opinions, especially present in his book, '' Die Groot Gedagte'', which was his biggest success.

Life

Joubert was born and grew up on his parents'

wine farm A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

near Stellenbosch. He attended school at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. He studied Afrikaans, Dutch, English and Psychology at Stellenbosch University. In his second year he interrupted his studies to work as a

deckhand An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

on a sailing ship. After a year he resumed his studies and obtained a BA at Stellenbosch University. Gideon Joubert worked as a

reporter 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 ...

at Die Burger. From 1951 he served as officer at the South African Navy, where he played a major role (with many others) to assist in making it become more

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Gymnasium at Saldanha Bay and became later its commanding officer. He founded and

chaired The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

the Fleet Language Board. As the founder and chairman of South Africa's first diving school, he also became South Africa's first frogman. After sixteen years of service, he retired with the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, however he began work again for Die Burger until his second and final retirement. Joubert was much involved in cultural and language matters. He was member of the executive board of Vriende van Afrikaans, the Helderbergse Kultuurraad and other organisations. Gideon Joubert was married, had four sons and lived in Heldervue, Somerset West. He was well known as an authority in wine circles and served on award panels. Gideon founded one of the oldest and most well established wine circles in South Africa, the Heerengracht Wynkring.

Authorship

He authored a book, ''Die Groot Gedagte'', about how the cosmos had come into existence. The cover of the earlier editions features a photo of

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(also known as the ''Eagle Nebula''). The book is mainly about how God had planned the universe and how it is unrealistic to assume that the universe had come into existence by mere chance. Unlike other Christian non-fiction works about cosmology and

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

, ''Die Groot Gedagte'' does not do away with the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

theory, but rather suggests that the Big Bang was the result of a greater Intelligence which had planned how the universe would turn out. The book has received widespread positive responses, although some have criticized the book because for its mixture of intelligent design theory and evolution theory.

Publications

*''Spioenduiker Frans Alberts'' (this youth novel was obligatory reading in South African schools) *''Die Groot Gedagte'', Tafelberg, 1997 (this was the first book about the cosmos written in Afrikaans)

Awards

* 1988: ''Insig'' Prize (the very first) for best scientific publication (which is not a text book) in Afrikaans in the previous ten years for Die Groot Gedagte. * Andrew Murray Prize for religious publications {{DEFAULTSORT:Joubert, Gideon 1923 births 2010 deaths People from Stellenbosch Afrikaner people South African non-fiction writers South African journalists South African male novelists 20th-century South African novelists 20th-century South African male writers Male non-fiction writers