Wilhelm Heinrich Franz Ludwig Langschmidt, or ''Willem Langschmidt'', (10 January 1805

Grabow Grabow () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The town lies southeast of Ludwigslust, the next city, and has the river Elde passing through its old town which is characterized by 16th century tim ...

, Gustrow - 5 October 1866 Caledon) was a German-born Cape Colony painter and drawing master of 59 Long Street,

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 ...

. He was the seventh child in a family of 4 sons and 3 daughters raised by August Wilhelm Langschmidt (*8 June 1754), a wealthy merchant of Grabow, and his wife Dorothea Elisabeth Höpcker (*6 September 1774). Wilhelm was expected to take up the profession of merchant, but showed little interest in such a career, and instead had a great passion for painting. In 1826 he turned to the Mecklenburg Grand Duke

Friedrich Franz Friedrich Franz (; 1 December 1783 – 4 December 1860) was a German Bohemian physicist. He was a professor of physics and applied mathematics at the Palacký University of Olomouc#Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy of University of Olomouc, where ...

for support, but was rejected. For a while he studied in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, under Prof. Kretsch, and decided to emigrate to Cape Colony, but not before marrying Dorothea Ahrens from

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...

, 18 years his junior. The couple landed in Cape Town on 2 March 1840, where Langschmidt lived and worked until 1851. He was active as a miniaturist, and portrait and landscape painter, working mainly in oils, pastels and chalks. He also ran drawing classes and was a competent

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

. A supporter of the Anti-Convict movement, he destroyed a portrait he had painted of the Governor,

Sir Harry Smith Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...

, at an anti-convict meeting. Returning to his merchant roots in 1856, Langschmidt bought the farm "''Grietjiesgat''" and started a trading store, around which in due course the town of

Grabouw Grabouw ( , ) is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 (South Africa), N2 highway. The town is the commercia ...

grew, named for his German hometown. Langschmidt is assumed to have eventually retired to his farm "''Gustrow''", also near

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

in the

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 ...

. He had at least 18 children, some sources citing 23, including 3 sets of twins. Langschmidt's great, great grandson is the Cape Town artist and whale conservationist, Noel Ashton. File:Long Street by W H F L Langschmidt.jpg,

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Langschmidt, W. H. F. L. Cape Colony artists Artists from Cape Town Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia Immigrants to the Cape Colony 1805 births 1866 deaths Elgin, Western Cape German emigrants to South Africa South African male painters South African painters Cape Colony painters