Essie Honiball
Encyclopedia
Essie Honiball is a South African author and health educator in the fields of fruitarianism
, fasting
and natural healing.
Essie Honiball was born Esther Maria Wiese, in Edenburg, Orange Free State
, South Africa
. She attended Orange Girl High School in Bloemfontein
, before studying at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Orange Free State, where she graduated in Biology (B.s.c.), Physical Education (Performers Licentitate) and Music (piano). She then travelled to Europe to continue her Physical Education studies in Holland, Denmark
and London
.
Later life
After teaching Physical Education at schools in South Africa, Honiball lectured in health and biology education at the Cape Town
Training College and at the Pretoria Normal College in Physical Education. She also served as Assistant Head of the Elizabeth Conradie School for disabled children.
Illness
A keen swimmer, she became a junior diving champion of Orange Free State, and a senior diving champion of Western Province (in the Western Cape) in 1946. However, in 1958, Honiball became very ill with tuberculosis and was hospitalized in Kimberley
, Northern Cape. Although the illness disappeared, Honiball failed to regain her strength and fell into depression. After hearing of the healing power of fruits by a friend, the author Cornelius Valkenburg de Villiers-Dreyer, whom she married in 1939, and influenced by the writings of South African author Johanna Brandt
, she recovered from her condition. When her husband died in 1962, Honiball went on to marry, T. O. Honiball
in 1973, a notable cartoonist for The Burger (South Africa
) and its magazines.
Rebirth
After withdrawing from normal life, and adopting a fruit diet (fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and sometimes vegetables) which she later described in her book I Live On Fruit, she felt transformed, acquiring a healthy body, new outlook on life and new lifestyle, to the surprise of her family and friends. Inspired by the results she had obtained, Honiball initiated the Hokaai! Movement with Herma Loubsa, establishing clubs in different regions of South Africa
. The club members, known as Hokaaiers, met every year to attend lectures about the fruit diet and relax in natural surroundings.
Scientific studies
In 1971, Essie Honiball participated in a rare scientific study into the fruitarian diet, conducted by B. J. Meyer, Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Science at the University of Pretoria
, who was investigating this diet from 1969 to 1973 in co-operation with the Council for Atomic Research and the Medical Research Council
. The results were referenced in the South African Medical Journal and in Professor Meyer's book "Fruit For Thought". Meyer’s described how lipid profiles and glucose tolerances improved on a particular fruitarian diet, and how his earlier tests on a 45 year old teacher (Honiball) who claimed she had eaten only fruits for the past 12 years, showed her to be in ‘excellent health’.
Writings
Honiball went on to write several books about her experiences with the fruit diet which were published in Afrikaans
and some in English
including I Live On Fruit, I Live On Fruit And Nothing Else, and, A Fruit Eater Is Born, which documented 50 years of her life’s work and experiences with diet. According to her writings, she sustained an exclusive fruitarian diet, for a period of 20 years without break, and has continued with the fruitarian diet throughout her life. In 2010, her books Ek leef van vrugte and I Live On Fruit will be updated and republished by Benedic Books
.
Biography
In 2010, well-known South African author Anoeschka von Meck
, signed an agreement with Benedic Books
for the writing of Essie Honiball's biography. Initially the book will be published in Afrikaans with the title: Essie Honiball: Die Ontwaking, and later translated into English with the title: Essie Honiball: The Awakening. The Afrikaans edition is scheduled for release at the end of 2010, and the English edition, at the beginning of 2011.
and English
, about the fruit diet and is featured in the book Stellenbosch Writers by Rosemarie Breuer. She is also cited in
Raw Knowledge: Enhancing The Powers of the Mind, Body and Soul, by health author, Paul Nison. In 2002, Morris Krok
, republished her book I Live On Fruit. The high fruit, low fat and all raw diet, which Honiball promotes has been referred to in the writings of health authors including Anne Osborne, Brian R. Clement Ph.D, Dr. Douglas Graham, and Viktoras Kulvinskas
. She received an honorary certificate from Orange Girl High School, Bloemfontein, in 2006.
, Morris Krok
and Johnny Lovewisdom
, have described how nuts and seeds are not botanically fruits, and too concentrated to form part of the optimum fruitarian diet.
English
Fruitarianism
Fruitarianism involves the practice of following a diet that includes fruits, nuts and seeds, without animal products, vegetables and grains. Fruitarianism is a subset of dietary veganism....
, fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
and natural healing.
Biography
Early lifeEssie Honiball was born Esther Maria Wiese, in Edenburg, Orange Free State
Orange Free State Province
Orange Free State Province was one of the four provinces of South Africa from 1910-1994.Its predecessor was the Orange River Colony.In 1994 it was dissolved. Its borders were largely conterminous with those of the modern Free State Province...
, 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...
. She attended Orange Girl High School in Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, before studying at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Orange Free State, where she graduated in Biology (B.s.c.), Physical Education (Performers Licentitate) and Music (piano). She then travelled to Europe to continue her Physical Education studies in Holland, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Later life
After teaching Physical Education at schools in South Africa, Honiball lectured in health and biology education at the Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
Training College and at the Pretoria Normal College in Physical Education. She also served as Assistant Head of the Elizabeth Conradie School for disabled children.
Illness
A keen swimmer, she became a junior diving champion of Orange Free State, and a senior diving champion of Western Province (in the Western Cape) in 1946. However, in 1958, Honiball became very ill with tuberculosis and was hospitalized in Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, Northern Cape. Although the illness disappeared, Honiball failed to regain her strength and fell into depression. After hearing of the healing power of fruits by a friend, the author Cornelius Valkenburg de Villiers-Dreyer, whom she married in 1939, and influenced by the writings of South African author Johanna Brandt
Johanna Brandt
Johanna Brandt was a South African propagandist of Afrikaner nationalism, spy during the Boer War, prophet and writer on controversial health subjects.- Biography :...
, she recovered from her condition. When her husband died in 1962, Honiball went on to marry, T. O. Honiball
T. O. Honiball
Thomas Ochse Honiball was a well known South African cartoon artist.T.O. Honiball was born on 7 December 1905 in Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Honiball attended the well known high school for boys in Stellenbosch, Paul Roos Gymnasium. He originally studied architecture at the University of...
in 1973, a notable cartoonist for The Burger (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...
) and its magazines.
Rebirth
After withdrawing from normal life, and adopting a fruit diet (fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and sometimes vegetables) which she later described in her book I Live On Fruit, she felt transformed, acquiring a healthy body, new outlook on life and new lifestyle, to the surprise of her family and friends. Inspired by the results she had obtained, Honiball initiated the Hokaai! Movement with Herma Loubsa, establishing clubs in different regions 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...
. The club members, known as Hokaaiers, met every year to attend lectures about the fruit diet and relax in natural surroundings.
Scientific studies
In 1971, Essie Honiball participated in a rare scientific study into the fruitarian diet, conducted by B. J. Meyer, Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Science at the University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
, who was investigating this diet from 1969 to 1973 in co-operation with the Council for Atomic Research and the Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
. The results were referenced in the South African Medical Journal and in Professor Meyer's book "Fruit For Thought". Meyer’s described how lipid profiles and glucose tolerances improved on a particular fruitarian diet, and how his earlier tests on a 45 year old teacher (Honiball) who claimed she had eaten only fruits for the past 12 years, showed her to be in ‘excellent health’.
Writings
Honiball went on to write several books about her experiences with the fruit diet which were published 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...
and some in 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...
including I Live On Fruit, I Live On Fruit And Nothing Else, and, A Fruit Eater Is Born, which documented 50 years of her life’s work and experiences with diet. According to her writings, she sustained an exclusive fruitarian diet, for a period of 20 years without break, and has continued with the fruitarian diet throughout her life. In 2010, her books Ek leef van vrugte and I Live On Fruit will be updated and republished by Benedic Books
Benedic Books
Benedic Boeke / Benedic Books is a South African based publishing company, which publishes various titles in the South African market.-About:...
.
Biography
In 2010, well-known South African author Anoeschka von Meck
Anoeschka von Meck
Anoeschka von Meck is an Afrikaans language writer.She lived in Henties Bay before moving to California in the United States to complete her high school studies. She studied marine biology and comparative religions in San Francisco...
, signed an agreement with Benedic Books
Benedic Books
Benedic Boeke / Benedic Books is a South African based publishing company, which publishes various titles in the South African market.-About:...
for the writing of Essie Honiball's biography. Initially the book will be published in Afrikaans with the title: Essie Honiball: Die Ontwaking, and later translated into English with the title: Essie Honiball: The Awakening. The Afrikaans edition is scheduled for release at the end of 2010, and the English edition, at the beginning of 2011.
Legacy
Honiball is one of a series of latter-20th century writers who writes about fruitarianism, raw nutrition, fasting and detoxification. She has produced a series of 12 books 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...
and 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...
, about the fruit diet and is featured in the book Stellenbosch Writers by Rosemarie Breuer. She is also cited in
Raw Knowledge: Enhancing The Powers of the Mind, Body and Soul, by health author, Paul Nison. In 2002, Morris Krok
Morris Krok
Morris Krok , was a South African author, publisher and health educator.- Biography :BackgroundMorris Krok was born in Johannesburg and brought up in Durban, South Africa...
, republished her book I Live On Fruit. The high fruit, low fat and all raw diet, which Honiball promotes has been referred to in the writings of health authors including Anne Osborne, Brian R. Clement Ph.D, Dr. Douglas Graham, and Viktoras Kulvinskas
Viktoras Kulvinskas
Viktoras Peter Kulvinskas M.S. is an American holistic health practitioner, nutritionist, raw foods advocate and author.- Background :After joining Ann Wigmore's Boston based Rising Sun Christianity movement, Kulvinskas co-founded, with Wigmore, the Hippocrates Health Institute, a health resort in...
. She received an honorary certificate from Orange Girl High School, Bloemfontein, in 2006.
Criticisms
Honiball's fruitarian diet consisted of fruits, berries, nuts and seeds. Health writers including Robert Gray, Arnold EhretArnold Ehret
Arnold Ehret was a German health educator and author of several books on diet, detoxification, fruitarianism, fasting, food combining, health, longevity, naturopathy, physical culture and vitalism.- Background :...
, Morris Krok
Morris Krok
Morris Krok , was a South African author, publisher and health educator.- Biography :BackgroundMorris Krok was born in Johannesburg and brought up in Durban, South Africa...
and Johnny Lovewisdom
Johnny Lovewisdom
Johnny Lovewisdom , born John Wierlo, and known as Hermit Saint Of The Andes, was an American-Finnish author who wrote about diet, health, natural living, religion and spirituality.-Early diet ideas:...
, have described how nuts and seeds are not botanically fruits, and too concentrated to form part of the optimum fruitarian diet.
Publications
Afrikaans- Ek Leef Van Vrugte, (I Live On Fruit), South Africa, Pretoria, Makro Books, 1974, 1979
- Ek Leef van Vrugte - Vandag (I Live on Fruit - Today), South Africa, Somerset West, Benedic Books, 2010
- Hokaai: Op Pad Na Môre, (My Fruit Diet After 40 Years), South Africa, Pretoria, Makro Books, 1982, 1998
- Die Tuin, (The Garden), South Africa, 1985
- Stééds Vrugte, (Fruits Forever), South Africa, Pretoria, Benedic Boeke, 1989, 1998.
- Ek Leef Van Vrugte, (I Live On Fruit), South Africa, Pretoria, Benedic Boeke, 1991 - Omnibus of Ek Leef Van Vrugte (1974), Hokaai (1982), and Die Tuin
- Skokkende Goeie Nuus: Uitgebeeld In Christelike Perspektief, (A Fruit Eater Is Born: A Book For Fruitarians & Hokaaiers), South Africa, Pretoria, 1994, 2002
- Op Pad Na More, (On The Way To Tomorrow), South Africa, Pretoria, Benedic Boeke, 1998
English
- I Live On Fruit, USA, Texas, Life Science Publications/Life Science Institute, 1979, 1981, 1990 (with Terry Fry)
- I Live On Fruit And Nothing Else, South Africa, Pretoria, Benedic Boeke, 1989
- I Live On Fruit, USA, Texas, Mabcgacam Books, 1990
- Forum 2000 (Issue 2) (compiled by Johan Nel), South Africa, Pretoria, Benedic Boeke, 1993, 79 pages, ISBN 086812382X, ISBN 9780868123820
- I Live On Fruit, South Africa, Pretoria, Essence of Health Publications, 2002
- A Fruit Eater Is Born: A Book For Fruitarians and Hokaaiers, South Africa, Pretoria, ABC Press, 2005,