Edward Fairly Stuart Graham Cloete (23 July 1897 – 19 March 1976) was a South African novelist, essayist, biographer and short story writer.

Early life

Cloete was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to Margaret Edit Park, granddaughter of Glasgow banker Edward Fairley, and Lawrence Woodbine Cloete from South Africa, whose grandfather Henry Cloete had been Special

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

in the

Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...

. He was educated in England at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

, a school which at present gives out a yearly prize in his honour to a student who excels in literature and creative writing. At Lancing he joined the

Officers Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

and at the age of seventeen took the Sandhurst entrance exam. From there he was commissioned as a Second-Lieutenant (at the beginning of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914) into the Ninth

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somers ...

, before later transferring to the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

. He was wounded in August 1916 and three days later arrived in London to be nursed at King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes, at 9

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, before convalescing in Hove, Sussex.

Writing career

He published his first novel, ''Turning Wheels'', in 1937: it became a best-seller, selling more than two million copies. Importation of the book was subsequently banned in South Africa, owing to its commentary on the

Great Trek The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...

, the event in which the book is set. Many of his 14 novels and most of his short stories are historically based fictional adventures, set against the backdrop of major African, and, in particular, South African historical events. Apart from ''Turning Wheels'', another prominent novel, 1963's ''Rags of Glory'', is set during the

Boer war The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

(with, according to its foreword, much of the historical information based on Rayne Kruger's '' Goodbye Dolly Gray''.) Two of his novels were turned into movies: ''The Fiercest Heart'' (1961) is based on his 1955 novel of the same name, and ''Majuba'', released in 1968, is based on his 1941 novel ''The Hill of the Doves''. Film producer Albert R. Broccoli attempted to film ''Rags of Glory'' in the mid-1960s with

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

directing, but Lean subsequently – despite his initial interest in the book which he called "very good in an awful sort of way" and its subject matter – rebuffed the offer. By 1974 Broccoli still intended to film the book. He wrote short stories. He published at least eight volumes in his lifetime. In addition to producing South-African related works, Cloete was among the pioneers of the by-now voluminous literary subgenre depicting the aftermath of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

. His 1947 novelette ''The Blast'' is written as the diary of a survivor living in the ruins of New York (published in '' 6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction'', ed.

Groff Conklin Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvement ...

, 1954). Other written genres to which he contributed included poetry (collected in a volume published in 1941, ''The Young Men and the Old'') and biography (''African Portraits'', 1946). He published the first part of his autobiography, ''A Victorian Son'', in 1972 and the second, ''The Gambler'', in 1973. Stuart Cloete died on 19 March 1976, in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa. Following Cloete's death, the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

to his works passed to his widow. After her death in August 1993, the copyright passed to Cloete's American-South African friend Warren Wilmot Williams. Although Cloete never wished to have any children of his own, he regarded Williams as an "adopted" son. In the late 1960s Cloete was instrumental in launching the young Williams' career as a documentary film producer and media executive. After inheriting the Stuart Cloete literary estate, Warren Williams established a trust to hold the copyright to Cloete's works. The copyright is managed by the British-based company Stuart Cloete Print Holdings Ltd.

Personal life

He lived most of his adult life in the town of

Hermanus Hermanus (; originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

, in the Western Cape. Cloete was married twice, first to Eileen Horsman in July 1917. After their divorce c.1940, his second marriage was to Mildred Elizabeth West, known as Tiny. She outlived him and died in August 1993. Cloete had no children.

Bibliography

Novels

* *''Watch for the Dawn'', 1939 *''Yesterday is Dead'', 1940 *''The Hill of Doves'', 1941 *''The Young Men and the Old'', 1941 *''Congo Song'', 1943 *''The Curve and the Tusk'', 1953 *''The Fiercest Heart'', 1955 *''Mamba'', 1956 *''The Mask'', 1957 *''Gazella'', 1958 *''Rags of Glory'', 1963 *''The Abductors'', 1966 *''How Young they Died'', 1969

Short fiction

;Collections *''Christmas in Matabeleland'', 1942 *''The third way'', 1947 *''The soldiers' peaches, and other African stories'', 1959 *''The silver trumpet, and other African stories'', 1961 *''The looking glass, and other African stories'', 1963 *''The thousand and one nights of Jean Macaque'', 1964 *''The honey bird, and other African stories'', 1964 *''The writing on the wall, and other African stories'', 1968 *''Three white swans; and other stories'', 1971 *''The company with the heart of gold, and other stories'', 1973 *''More nights of Jean Macaque'', 1975 *''Canary pie'', 1976 ;Stories

Non-fiction

*''African portraits: a biography of Paul Kruger, Cecil Rhodes and Lobengula, last King of the Matabele'', 1946 *''Against these three'', 1947 *''The African giant: the story of a journey'', 1955 *''Storm over Africa: a study of the Mau Mau Rebellion, its causes, effects, and implications in Africa south of the Sahara'', 1956 *''West with the sun'', 1962 *''South Africa: the land, its people and achievements'', 1968 *''A Victorian son: an autobiography, 1897–1922'', 1972 *''The gambler: an autobiography volume 2, 1920–1939'', 1973

References

The official site of the literary estate of Stuart CloeteBiography on BritannicaIMDB entry for ''Fiercest Heart''IMDB entry for ''Majuba''
* Note about the banning of ''Turning Wheels''

External links

The official Stuart Cloete website, commissioned by Warren Wilmot Williams and launched in 2007. It honors the life of Stuart Cloete and provides a comprehensive resource for information about Cloete's literary works.
* * His correspondence, memorabilia and personal library are housed at the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, South Africa. http://www.ru.ac.za/static/institutes/nelm//?request=nelm/ where contact details for viewing this material can be found. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloete, Stuart 1897 births 1976 deaths 20th-century South African short story writers 20th-century South African male writers 20th-century South African novelists British Army personnel of World War I British military writers Coldstream Guards officers Esquire (magazine) people Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers Male biographers People educated at Lancing College South African autobiographers South African biographers South African male novelists South African male short story writers British expatriates in France British emigrants to South Africa Military personnel from Paris