Richard Stephen Steyn (born 13 January 1944) is a South African newspaper editor, historian and

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er.

Life and career

Steyn was born 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 ...

in January 1944, the son of Stephen Steyn, who played first-class cricket in South Africa in the 1920s and 1930s. While attending

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

, he played cricket for the South African Universities team for several years in the 1960s. Steyn was an

off spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...

bowler and useful lower-order batsman. In his second first-class match, playing for South African Universities against the touring MCC in December 1964, he scored 33 (the top score) and 21 and took 5 for 84 in an innings defeat. He was selected to play for a South African Invitation XI against the MCC later that season, but was less successful. He toured England with South African Universities in 1967, captaining the team in some of their matches. His best first-class bowling figures were 6 for 40 for Natal B against

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

in 1968–69. He played no further first-class cricket after that season. Steyn practised as a lawyer before taking up journalism. He edited ''

The Natal Witness ''The Witness'' (previously ''The Natal Witness'') is a daily newspaper published in Pietermaritzburg. It mainly serves readers in Pietermaritzburg, Durban and the inland areas of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the oldest continuously p ...

'' 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 ...

from 1975 to 1990, was a

Nieman Fellow The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1985–86, and was editor in chief of '' The Star'' in

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 ...

from 1990 to 1995. He served as

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

's Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications from 1996 to 2001, before returning to writing. He has since written several histories and biographies based on South African history in the first half of the 20th century. Steyn and his wife Elizabeth have two sons.

Books

* ''Hoisting the Standard: 150 Years of Standard Bank'' (2012) * ''

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

: Unafraid of Greatness'' (2015) * '' Churchill & Smuts: The Friendship'' (2017) * ''

Louis Botha Louis Botha ( , ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Africa, prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war v ...

: A Man Apart'' (2018) * ''Seven Votes: How WWII Changed South Africa Forever'' (2020) * '' Milner: Last of the Empire-Builders'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Richard Steyn talking about his biography of Jan Smuts
at The Reading List {{DEFAULTSORT:Steyn, Richard 1944 births Living people Writers from Cape Town South African cricketers Western Province cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers South African Universities cricketers Stellenbosch University alumni South African newspaper editors South African biographers 20th-century South African journalists 21st-century South African journalists