
author
Best known for a vivid firsthand account of the Bethulie concentration camp during the South African War, this South African minister wrote with urgency, sympathy, and a sharp eye for human suffering. His work stands out as both a historical record and a deeply personal witness to a devastating time.

by A. D. (August D.) Luckhoff
Born on July 6, 1874, in Colesberg, August Daniël Lückhoff was a South African minister in the Dutch Reformed tradition whose life joined pastoral work, education, and social welfare. After spending some years as a teacher, he went to the seminary at Stellenbosch in 1896 and later entered the ministry.
During the Second Boer War, he served as chaplain at the Bethulie concentration camp, where the harsh conditions left a lasting impression on him. That experience shaped the book Woman's Endurance, remembered as an important eyewitness account of suffering in the camp and of the endurance of the women and families who lived through it.
Lückhoff later served congregations including Caledon and Darling, and he became especially known for his work on behalf of poor and neglected children and for broader church-led welfare efforts. From 1916 to 1943 he was General Poor Relief Secretary of the Cape Church, and his long public service was later recognized by Stellenbosch University with an honorary doctorate. He died on May 5, 1963.