Elisabeth Françoise Eybers (26 February 1915 – 1 December 2007) was a South African

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. Her poetry was mainly in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, although she translated some of her own work (and those of others) into English. Eybers was born in

Klerksdorp Klerksdorp ( ) is located in the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp is located southeast of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Republic and u ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. She grew up in the town of

Schweizer-Reneke Schweizer-Reneke, sometimes referred to as Schweizer, is a town in the North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Mamusa Local Municipality.

, where her father was the local

dominee In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

of the

Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Three churches from the Dutch Reformed Church tradition in South Africa are often mentioned together as "three sister churches". They are the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK), and Reformed C ...

church. After completing her

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

studies there at the age of 16, she enrolled at the

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

for a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree, which she achieved ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''. After her graduation she became a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. In 1937 Eybers married the businessman

Albert Wessels Albert Wessels (1 October 1908 - 22 July 1991) was a South African industrialist and the founder of Toyota South Africa. Toyota South Africa can trace its roots back to 1961, when Wessels obtained a permit to import ten ''Toyopet Stout'' pickup ...

, with whom she had three daughters and a son. Counted among the so-called Dertigers, she became the first Afrikaans woman to win the

Hertzog Prize The Hertzog Prize (or Hertzogprys) is an annual award given to Afrikaans writers by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for the Sciences and Art), formerly the South African Academy for Language, Literature ...

for poetry in 1943. She won the prize again in 1971. Her work received many other awards in both South Africa and the Netherlands, including the

Constantijn Huygens Prize The Constantijn Huygens Prize (Dutch: ''Constantijn Huygens-prijs'') is a Dutch literary award.P. C. Hooft Award The P.C. Hooft Award (in Dutch: P.C. Hooft-prijs), inaugurated in 1948, is a Dutch-language literary lifetime-achievement award named after 17th-century Dutch poet and playwright Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft. The award is made annually. Background ...

in 1991. Eybers' first collection of poems, ''Belydenis in die Skemering'' ("Confession at twilight"), was published in 1936. Her second collection, ''Die Stil Avontuur'' ("The silent adventure"), was published in 1939 and was mainly about being a mother. ''Die Vrou en ander verse'' (The woman and other poems) was published in 1945 while her fourth poetry collection, ''Die Ander Dors'' (The other thirst) was published in 1946. Many other poetry collections followed regularly, including: * ''Tussensang'' (In-between song), 1950 * ''Helder Halfjaar'' (Bright half-year), 1956 * ''Versamelde Gedigte'' (Collected poems), 1957 * ''Neerslag'' (Precipitation), 1958 * ''Balans'' (Balance), 1962 * ''Onderdak'' (Under shelter), 1965 * ''Kruis of Munt'' (Head or tail), 1973 Later works include the bilingual ''Verbruikersverse''/Consumer's verse (1997) en Winter-surplus (1999). Translations of her poems have also been published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. Among the settings of her poetry by South African composers are "Die Vreemde Dae" by

Cromwell Everson Cromwell Everson (28 September 1925 – 11 June 1991) was primarily known as a composer during his lifetime. He was brought up as an Afrikaner by his mother, Maria De Wit and father, Robert Everson. He continued this tradition and all his childr ...

and two song cycles by

Hendrik Hofmeyr Hendrik Pienaar Hofmeyr (born 20 November 1957) is a South African composer. Born in Cape Town, he furthered his studies in Italy during 10 years of self-imposed exile as a conscientious objector. While there, he won the South African Opera Com ...

, "Drie gedigte van Elisabeth Eybers" (1984) and "DIe stil avontuur" (2003) http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/hofmeyrh.htm Dutch composer

Bertha Tideman-Wijers Albertha Wilhelmina Tideman-Wijers (8 January 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a Dutch composer who lived in Indonesia for almost two decades and incorporated Indonesian elements into her compositions. She published her music under the name Bertha Tide ...

used Eybers' text for her composition ''Three Songs on a South African tex''t. Dutch composer

Marjo Tal Marjo Tal (15 January 1915 - 27 August 2006) was a Dutch composer and pianist who wrote the music for over 150 songs and often performed them while accompanying herself on the piano. Life and career Early life Tal was born in The Hague, the oldes ...

also set several of Eybers’ poems to music. After her divorce in 1961 she met

Pieter Hennipman Pieter Hennipman (12 September 1911 – 3 July 1994) was a Dutch economist, Professor of Economics at the University of Amsterdam, who is considered the "leading Dutch economist of the post-war period." Biography Born in Leiden, Hennipman rece ...

. They were married from 1974 until his death in 1994.Ena Jansen (1998) ''Afstand & verbintenis''. p. 107 She lived in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands, and she was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

References

External links

*
Bibliography & texts on Elisabeth Eybers
in the Digital Library for Dutch Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Eybers, Elisabeth 1915 births 2007 deaths Afrikaans-language poets Calvinist and Reformed poets South African women poets Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery Afrikaner people Constantijn Huygens Prize winners P. C. Hooft Award winners Hertzog Prize winners for poetry University of the Witwatersrand alumni 20th-century South African poets 20th-century South African women writers