Marie Linde was the pen name of Elizabeth Johanna Bosman (1 May 1894 – 28 September 1963), a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n novelist of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

descent. Initially home schooled, she studied modern languages at 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 ...

and was an accomplished linguist, able to speak Dutch, German, French and English. She published novels, short stories and plays, and created the first Afrikaans radio play broadcast. Published in 1925, her novel ''Onder bevoorregte mense'' was the first Afrikaans novel translated into English, being issued as ''Among Privileged People''.

Biography

Born on 1 May 1894 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

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

to a surveyor from

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

and minister's daughter from

Tulbagh Tulbagh (), previously named Roodezand, then Land van Waveren later in 1804 named after Cape of Good Hope Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Cape Winelands ...

, Elizabeth Johanna Bosman grew up in a home surrounded by books in English and Dutch. Due to poor health, she was initially

home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

, absorbing the literary diversity of her home, and developing a keen eye for languages. The latter came to the fore in 1905 when, on a visit to Europe, she learned both French and German. She eventually attended Good Hope Seminary High School, leaving in 1913 to read modern languages at the

. Initially a teacher of Dutch and Afrikans in Cape Town, she turned to writing full-time and published her first novel, ''Onder bevoorregte mense'' in 1925. This was also the first novel in

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 ...

to be translated in English, being issued as ''Among Privileged People'', and was followed by a sequel, ''Bettie Maritz'', five years later. She also wrote short stories, which were initially featured in magazines like ''

Huisgenoot ''Huisgenoot'' (Afrikaans language, Afrikaans for ''Housemate'') is a weekly South African Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine. It has the highest circulation figures of any South African magazine and is followed by sister magaz ...

'', later being compiled into collections for publication. As well as books, she wrote plays, including ''Die ongelyke worsteling'' and ''Beatriks Ursula''. She also created one of the first radio plays in Afrikaans, entitled ''Drie lewens'' or ''Three Lives'', which was first broadcast in 1935. She died on 28 September 1963 at home in Cape Town.

Selected writings

:''Onder bevoorregte mense'' (Among Privileged People), 1925 :''Dina en Lalie'' (Dina and Lalie), 1927 :''Die ongelyke worsteling'' (The unequal struggle), 1929 :''Bettie Maritz'', 1930 :''Beatriks Ursula'', 1932 :''Drie toneelstukkies'' (Three plays), 1932 :''Die Roi Rotte en ander Verhale'' (The Red Rats and Other Stories), 1932 :''Kaparrings en ander Verhale'' (Hijackings and other stories), 1935 :''Knap kêrels en mooi nooiens'' (Handsome boyfriends and pretty girls), 1936 :''Afrikaanse liederekrans'' (African song wreath), 1937 :''’n Huis verdeeld'' (A house divided), 1943 :''Op die ou trant'' (In the old fashioned way), 1944 :''Die huis met die horings'' (The house with the horns), 1944 :''Hoë polvye'' (High polvye), 1947 :''Om die beurt'' (In turn), 1952

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * } * * } * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Linde, Marie 1894 births 1963 deaths 20th-century South African women writers Writers from Cape Town Pseudonymous women writers South African women short story writers South African women novelists 20th-century pseudonymous writers