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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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

Henry Cloete Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

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 in ...

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 to ...

. He was educated in England at

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

, 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 Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914) into the Ninth

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a 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 Somerset and Cornwall ...

, 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; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He was wounded in August 1916 and three days later arrived in London to be nursed at

King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes King Edward VII's Hospital (formal name: King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes) is a private hospital located on Beaumont Street in the Marylebone district of central London. Agnes Keyser, later known as Sister Agnes, established the hospit ...

, 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 ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote 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 beyon ...

, 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 ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

(with, according to its foreword, much of the historical information based on

Rayne Kruger Charles Rayne Kruger (29 January 1922 – 21 December 2002) was a South African author and property developer. Charles Rayne Kruger was born on 29 January 1922 in Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape, the son of an unmarried 17-year-old daughter o ...

's ''

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''.) 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 Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...

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 in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

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 theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

. 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 ''6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction'' is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Groff Conklin. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in 1954. The book should be distinct from his similarly titled later anthology, ...

'', 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 improvemen ...

, 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 ( 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 ...

, South Africa. Following Cloete's death, the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive 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, education ...

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 A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

. 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 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 South African short story writers British expatriates in France British emigrants to South Africa