Louis Henri Meurant
(between 1811 and 1813 - 1893) Lawyer, magistrate, actor, playwright, printer and journalist.
From 1853 onwards he was apparently a magistrate of several districts in the Colony.
He retired in Riversdal and was buried there in the Meurant Historical Cemetery, alongside his wife, Charlotte C.J. Meurant (1809-1888)
As performer and playwright
In his youth he was apparently an occasional actor for C.E. Boniface, and a friend of Frederick Rex. Possibly a co-author of Kaatjie Kekkelbek??
He was also a friend of a number of people in theatre, including George Rex, J. Suasso de Lima, C.E. Boniface, and apparently published some of the first writings in Afrikaans by the latter two playwrights.
He also wrote some well-known and influential "Zamenspraake" (dialogues) under the pseudonym Klaas Waarzegger ("Klaas Soothsayer") about the division of the Eastern and Western provinces, entitled Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twyfelaar over het onderwerp van afscheiding tusschen de Oostelyke en Westelyjke Provincie (1860/1861?). According to Ludwig Binge (1969) the character of the crusty Calvinist "Klaas Waarzegger" became an influential model for later playwrights such as Melt Brink, C.J. Langenhoven, D.C. Postma and the "coloured" characters of later writers. ("Jan Twyfelaar" means "Jan the Doubter").
As cultural activist and historian
An activist for freedom of the press and for the recognition of the Afrikaans language.
Author of the invaluable source on 19th century theatre and other cultural matters, Sixty years ago, or, Reminiscences of the struggle for the freedom of the press in South Africa and the establishment of the first newspaper in the Eastern Province Cape Town, 1885.
[TH]
Sources
Binge, 1969
Bosman, 1928:pp. 261-268, 282-282, 295-297, 372, 547.
http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=525518
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaas_Waarzegger
Ana Deumert 2004. Language Standardization and Language Change: The dynamics of Cape Dutch John Benjamins Publishing.[1]
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