Christoffel Hermanus Kühn (1903–1968) was a South African writer and poet who published under the pseudonym "Mikro" in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

. Kühn was born at "Van Reenensplaas" in Williston district of the former

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 ...

(later province of South Africa). He was at school in

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

and Carnarvon and continued tertiary education at the

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

where he completed a BSc degree in Agriculture. Kühn taught for a while at

Kuilsrivier Kuils River ( Afrikaans: Kuilsrivier) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, 25 km (15 miles) east of Cape Town CBD at the gateway of the Cape Winelands. It is also the name of the main tributary of the Eerste River, and forms part o ...

and Ritchie. From 1930 to 1931 he wrote poems for the Afrikaans magazine ''Die Huisgenoot'' and published biographies, novels and adventure stories. Between 1944 and 1949 he developed into a full-time writer, but later joined the Teachers' College in

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...

where he lectured for five years. After teaching he worked for ''Boerdery in Suid-Afrika'' (a farmers' magazine) as chief editor from 1956 until 1960. He became chief leader of the farmers' movement, Die Landdiensbeweging, for the Agricultural Ministry. He resigned from this position in 1964. Kühn was awarded 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 a ...

for Prose in 1936 for ''Toiings'' and ''Pelgrims'', the W.A. Hofmeyr Prize in 1956 for ''Die Porseleinkat'' and the in 1957 for ''Die Jongste Ruiter''. He received the National Publishers Award in 1961. His daughter, Cornelia Hilda Kühn, who writes under the pseudonym Corlia Fourie, was born in 1944. Kühn died on 17 April 1968, in the town

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

, in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

References

External links

karoohoogland.co.za

sahistory.org.za
South African poets Afrikaans-language poets Afrikaans-language writers 1903 births 1968 deaths Hertzog Prize winners for prose 20th-century poets {{SouthAfrica-writer-stub