author
Johanna Brandt
1876–1964
Best known for her dramatic Boer War memoir and fiercely independent public life, this South African writer moved between politics, religion, and health reform in ways that still spark curiosity. Her books reflect a life shaped by conflict, conviction, and a strong sense of purpose.
1 Audiobook
The Petticoat Commando: Boer Women in Secret Service
by Johanna Brandt
About the author
Born in Heidelberg in the South African Republic on 18 November 1876, Johanna Brandt became known in South Africa as a writer, Boer War participant, and public figure. During the war she worked as a nurse in the Irene concentration camp and later became involved in espionage on behalf of the Boer cause, experiences that fed directly into her later writing.
She is especially remembered for The Petticoat Commando, a memoir that recounts wartime life from a woman's perspective. Beyond that, she wrote on religion and health, and her career ranged widely across nationalist activism, prophecy, and natural-health advocacy.
Brandt died in Newlands, Cape Town, on 13 January 1964. Her life and work remain notable not only because of what she wrote, but because they capture several powerful strands of South African history in a single, unusual career.