author
D'Arbez
1856–1918
A key early voice in Afrikaans literature, this South African writer is best known for vivid historical fiction set around the Cape, the Great Trek, and the country’s colonial past. Writing under the pen name D'Arbez, he helped bridge an important period in the development of Afrikaans writing.
3 Audiobooks
About the author
Born Johan Frederik van Oordt in Cape Town on 20 November 1856, he became widely known by the pen name D'Arbez. He is remembered as an important transitional figure between the First and Second Afrikaans Language Movements, writing at a time when Afrikaans literature was still taking shape.
Much of his work focused on South African history. He wrote numerous historical novels in Dutch and Afrikaans, often drawing on episodes from the Cape’s colonial era and the Great Trek. His pseudonym is often explained as a playful reversal of the word "zebra."
Van Oordt died in Somerset West on 6 September 1918. Today, D'Arbez is mainly valued as an early popularizer of historical storytelling in Afrikaans and as a writer who helped carry readers from older Dutch literary traditions toward a distinct Afrikaans voice.