Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven
Encyclopedia
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
Afrikaans literature
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
and cultural history, and was one of the young language's foremost promoters. He is best known to have written the words for the original South African Anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
Die Stem (The Call)
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika was the national anthem of South Africa from 1957 to 1994, and shared national anthem status with Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika until 1997, when a new hybrid anthem was adopted. It was also the anthem for South-West Africa under South African mandate until 1990.- Background :In...
.
Langenhoven was born at Hoeko, Ladismith
Ladismith
Ladismith is town and agricultural centre in the western Kleinkaroo region of South Africa's Western Cape province. In 1852 the farm Elandsvlei was set aside for the town, and it became a municipality in 1862. It was named after Lady Juana Smith....
, Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
and later moved to Oudtshoorn where he became its most famous resident. In 1897 he married the widow Lenie van Velden. They had one child, a daughter named Engela, who was born in 1901. By 1914 he became a member of parliament (first as member of The House of Assembly, and later as Senator) where he took the struggle to have Afrikaans officially recognised, to the next level. He was also a founder member of the new Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger
Die Burger
Die Burger is a daily Afrikaans language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa...
, and a Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
.
C.J. Langenhoven's most famous work is the original South African Anthem Die Stem which he wrote in 1918. To celebrate the centenary of his birth, the South African Post Office issued a four-cent C.J. Langenhoven stamp in 1973.
Work
C.J. Langenhoven's most famous work is the original South African Anthem Die StemDie Stem van Suid-Afrika
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika was the national anthem of South Africa from 1957 to 1994, and shared national anthem status with Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika until 1997, when a new hybrid anthem was adopted. It was also the anthem for South-West Africa under South African mandate until 1990.- Background :In...
(i.e., "The Voice / The Call of South Africa") which he wrote in 1918. Parts of this anthem have been worked into the new national anthem
National anthem of South Africa
Since 1997, the South African national anthem has been a hybrid song combining new English lyrics with extracts of the hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the former anthem "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" . The fact that it shifts and ends in a different key, a feature it shares with the Italian national...
since apartheid was abolished.
Aside from this, his writing career spanned almost every genre, from poetry to ghost and alien stories. Langenhoven also translated several works into Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, amongst these was the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám , a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer...
. He created new Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
proverbs and even wrote a love poem (albeit in nonsense verse
Nonsense verse
Nonsense verse is a form of light, often rhythmical verse, usually for children, depicting peculiar characters in amusing and fantastical situations. It is whimsical and humorous in tone and tends to employ fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words. Nonsense verse is closely related to...
) to his dog.
Langenhoven was instrumental in the movement for the acceptance of Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
as a language, in general and as the first language in schools, instead of Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. This culminated in the language officially being used in parliament in 1925, and by 1927 was recognised as an official language of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, together with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Personality
One of the most versatile writers in AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, he was a master of the short form of prose and is best remembered for his humorous and satirical works.
Langenhoven was well known for his sharp wit and gentle manner. He owned an imaginary elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
named Herrie ("Harry") that appeared in many of his stories. He even carved its name onto a boulder next to the N12 highway near Meiringspoort (outside Oudtshoorn) in 1929. This boulder known as Herrie's Stone ("Herrie se Klip", in Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
), has been declared a South African national monument.
Legacy
- The Stellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....
Student Center is named after him and is affectionately known as "Die Neelsie" ("The Neelsie"). - South African filmmaker Manie van Rensburg made a light-hearted comedic television series based on Langenhoven's work in 1983, titled Sagmoedige Neelsie.
- To celebrate the centenary of his birth, the South African Post Office issued a 4 centSouth African randThe rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c"...
C.J. Langenhoven stampCommemorative stampA commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...
in 1973. - Langenhoven is regarded as one of the most prolific and most versatile AfrikaansAfrikaansAfrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
writers still today, his Collected Works comprising 16 volumes. He is also fondly remembered and referred to for his quirky personality. - The place he and his family lived in, called the Arbeidsgenot, (meaning "the pleasure of work") has been turned into a house museum. They lived there from 1901 until 1950.
External links
- See also the Afrikaans link from which this translation was originally derived