Eric Rosenthal, (10 July 1905 – 1983) was a South African

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and writer. He was born in Newlands, Cape Town,

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

. He studied as an attorney, later becoming a journalist and writer of many corporate histories. He was a member of the ''Three Wise Men'' on Springbok Radio's long-running quiz show, ''Test the Team''. The elder of two children born to Richard Rosenthal and Hedwig De Beer, he received his first education at Parktown Preparatory School in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, and later St. John's College. He chose to follow a legal career and qualified as an attorney at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

. Early opportunities as a journalist saw his virtual abandoning of law. He was competent at sketching and enlivened his books with explanatory drawings. Rosenthal was married to Jenny Bradley on 18 December 1934 in Westcliff, Johannesburg. They spent most of their married life in

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek ( af, Vishoek, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fish ...

near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Rosenthal has been attributed with helping write the initial batch of Chappies "Did You Know?" facts.

Bibliography

*''Memories & Sketches'' *''From Drury Lane to Mecca'' *''Old Time Survivals in South Africa'' *''Stars and Stripes in Africa'' *''The Fall of Italian East Africa'' *''Fortress on Sand'' *'' General Dan Pienaar'' *''Japan's Bid for Africa'' *'' General de Wet'' *''Gold Bricks and Mortar'' *''African Switzerland'' *''The South African Saturday Book'' *''Homes of the Golden City'' *'' They Walk in the Night'' *''Pinelands'' *''South African Jews in World War II'' *''Shovel and Sieve'' *''Here are Diamonds'' *''The Hinges Creaked'' *'' Shelter from the Spray'' *''Shells to Shillings'' *''Other Men's Millions'' *''Cutlass and Yardarm'' *''Today's News Today'' *''The Changing Years'' *''River of Diamonds'' *''Overdrafts and Overwork'' *''Apology Refused'' *'' Heinrich Egersdörfer:an Old-Time Sketch Book'' *''Tankards and Tradition'' * *''Schooners and Skyscrapers'' *''South African Surnames'' * *''History of Fish Hoek 1818-1968'' *''Gold! Gold! Gold!'' *''Meet Me at the Carlton'' *''You Have Been Listening'' *''The Rand Rush'' *''Victorian South Africa'' * *''The Best of Eric Rosenthal'' *''Fish Horns and Hansom Cabs'' *''Rustenburg Romance'' *''160 Years of Cape Town Printing'' *''On Change Through the Years'' *''50 Years of the Cape Town Orchestra'' *''50 Years of Healing'' *''300 Years of the Castle at Cape Town'' *''The Story of The Cape Jewish Orphanage'' published in 1961

Family

Eric Rosenthal's grandfather was Albert Rosenthal, who settled in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

in the Eastern Cape in about 1854, where he was on the board of directors of the Standard Bank of South Africa. He married Pauline Emmanuel from Germany, who was a fellow music student with Engelbert Humperdinck. They produced three sons – two elder sons born in Germany, Julius (1868–1902) and Richard born 1869, and lastly Berthold born 1885 in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenthal, Eric 1905 births 1983 deaths 20th-century South African historians Alumni of St John's College (Johannesburg) Historians of South Africa University of the Witwatersrand alumni Writers from Cape Town