author
C. W. H. (Christiaan Willem Hendrik) Van der Post
1856–1914
A Dutch-born writer and public figure in South Africa, he brought frontier history and Boer life into fiction shaped by his own wide-ranging career. He is especially remembered for Piet Uijs, a historical novel that kept the story of the Voortrekkers alive for later readers.
1 Audiobook
Piet Uijs, of lijden en strijd der voortrekkers in Natal
by C. W. H. (Christiaan Willem Hendrik) Van der Post
About the author
Born in Leiden in 1856, he moved to South Africa as a child and went on to lead an unusually varied life. Sources describe him not only as a writer, but also as a teacher, lawyer, military commander, politician, and diplomat in the Orange Free State.
His best-known literary work is Piet Uijs, of lijden en strijd der voortrekkers in Natal, a Dutch-language historical novel. Modern scholarly summaries note that his writing is important for understanding how faith, identity, and frontier history were imagined in Boer society of the late 19th century.
He died in Philippolis in 1914. He is also remembered as the father of Laurens van der Post, though his own career stands out in its own right for the way it connected literature, public service, and South African history.