Magdalena Sauer (6 May 1890 – 10 October 1983) was the first woman qualified to practice as an architect in South Africa.

Early life and education

Magdalena Gertruide Sauer was born in

Kenilworth, Cape Town Kenilworth is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa. Geography Kenilworth is bordered by Wynberg to the south and Claremont to the north. Kenilworth railway station is on the main line from Cape Town to Simon's Town. Main Road (which runs fro ...

, the daughter of

Jacobus Wilhelmus Sauer Jacobus Wilhelmus ("J.W.") Sauer (1850 – 24 July 1913), was a prominent liberal politician of the Cape Colony. He served as Minister in multiple Cape governments, and was influential in several unsuccessful attempts to enshrine equal political ...

and Mary Cloete Sauer. Her father was a prominent politician, and her mother was a close friend of author

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deal ...

. Her brother, Paul Oliver Sauer, also became a politician; the nationalist

Sauer Commission The Sauer Commission (South Africa), was created in 1948 largely in response to the Fagan Commission. It was appointed by the Herenigde Nasionale Party and favoured even stricter segregation laws. The Sauer Commission was concerned with the 'pr ...

was named for him. She was raised in Kenilworth and at the family farm near

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. She attended the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, earning a degree in science in 1911. She pursued further training in architecture as a trainee in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, and in England at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.E. J. Verwey, ed.
''New Dictionary of South African Biography''
(HSRC Press 1995): 223-224.

Career

Cape Town Bo-Kaap 188 to 200 Longmarket St with Mosque

After she finished her architectural training, she registered with the Institute of South African Architects in 1927. She focused as residential architecture and restoration of older buildings. Among her projects were the restoration of buildings on Shortmarket, Longmarket, Rose, and Chiappini Streets in Cape Town's

Bo-Kaap The Bo-Kaap (lit. "above the Cape" in Afrikaans) is an area of Cape Town, South Africa formerly known as the Malay Quarter. It is a former racially segregated area, situated on the slopes of Signal Hill above the city centre and is a historical ...

(then called the Malay Quarter) in the 1940s (with Reg de Smit), and creating the South African Cultural History Museum from the former Supreme Court building in the 1960s (the building has housed the Slave Lodge museum since 1998). She retired from architectural work in 1965. Both projects have since been declared protected historical sites. As a side occupation, Sauer wrote art criticism for ''Die Burger'' newspaper."This Day in History"
''South African History Online''.

Personal life

She married once, briefly, to Trygve Strömsöe, the Norwegian engineer who designed the

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is a cable car transportation system offering visitors a five-minute ride to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions with approximately ...

. Their daughter Karin Strömsöe, born 1924, became an artist and book illustrator. Magdalena Sauer died in 1983, aged 93 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, Mag 1890 births 1983 deaths Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture 20th-century South African architects South African women architects University of Cape Town alumni