Willem Frederik Mondriaan

Willem Frederik Mondriaan (1874-1944) was a Dutch born journalist and theatre producer.

Biography

Born Willem Frederick Mondriaan on May 10, 1874 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands.

During the Boer War, he served in the Hollander Corps, receiving the Lint voor Verwonding ("Wound Ribbon").

He was twice married, to Jacomina Frederika Potgieter (1881-1908) and to Francina Willemina Bosman (1899-1942) and had two sons, Willem Frederick Mondriaan and Johannes Jacomina Frederik Mondriaan.

He died on August 22, 1944 in Pretoria, South Africa

He was the younger brother of the great modernist painter Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944).

Contributions to South African theatre, film, media and performance

While living in Bloemfontein, he seems to have been associated with Die Hanekoms se Toneelskool (founded in 1932) for a while, and performed in some plays for them no doubt.

In 1933 he produced the five act drama Joan Woutersz by the Dutch dramatist Hendrik Jan Schimmel ()[], in the Grand Theatre in Bloemfontein, as part of the Orange Free State's contribution to the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of William of Orange in the Netherlands. The cast included C. de Wet Marais (1903-1972) and Anna Christina Snoek (1903-1941).