G.W. Eybers

EYBERS, G.W. (19*-19*) A ** and theate lover. ***Appointed by the Minister of Education, Arts and Science (Mr J.H. Hofmeyr) in 1945 to head a commission to study the educational and social needs of the country after the second world war. The commission's voluminous report recommended the founding of a National Council for Adult Education. Eybers was the first director, and being a theatre lover, he in 1947 approved the formation of a section devoted to theatre, headed by the chairman of FATSSA P.P.B. Breytenbach. It was under the aegis of this sub-committee that FATSSA obtained its first grant of £400, plus a loan of £3,600 in 1947, to organise professional tours in 1948, and - in effect - to establish the National Theatre Organisation (NTO). (See also National Council for Adult Education and National Theatre Organisation) (Stead, 1985b)

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