Vere Stent
(1872-1941) Journalist, critic, playwright and author.
Biography
Born Vere Palgrave Stent in Queenstown, the brother of actor Lionel B. Stent, he initially worked for the De Beer's mine, and later became a news correspondent, covering the Matabele Rebellion, the Anglo-Boer War (including the Siege of Mafeking), the First World War (e.g the campaign in South West Africa) other campaigns during the First World War..
Besides many articles and reviews, his best known publications include Short South African Stories (1909, compiled with his sister, Joan) and A Personal Record of Some Incidents in the Life of Cecil Rhodes (1925). His own life is the subject of a biography entitled The Forthright Man (1972) by Sally and Betty Stent.
His work in South African theatre and the arts
Apparently rather unpopular among the Afrikaans speaking population (Ludwig Binge referring to him as the well-known "jingo journalist"), he was also a severe critic. For instanced, he wrote a snide review of Ou Daniel by Harm Oost (1906), complaining that "God Save The King" had been replaced by "Afrikanders Bo!" at the end of the play.
As a playwright he wrote one play, entitled War and a Woman, which was produced in Pretoria in 1912.
Sources
Ludwig Binge, 1969.
"Stent, Vere Palgrave" in ESAACH[1]
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