J.J. Groeneweg

J.J. Groeneweg (1870-1945) was a teacher, linguist, philologist and author of Afrikaans and Dutch stories, mainly for the youth.

Biography

Born Jacobus Johannes Groeneweg in July 1870, at Woerden in Holland, then trained as a teacher of Mathematics and Dutch literature, in Rotterdam, also training as a artist and a teacher of painting.

Having taught in Rotterdam for a while, he then came to South Africa to teach at a variety of schools. He later obtained a B.A. degree through private study, and besides mathematics handbooks, he also began a successful career writing more than 26 adventure novels in both Afrikaans and Dutch, mainly aimed at young people and set in South Africa.

He passed away in Middelburg, South Africa on 14 Maart 1945.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Besides his teaching and his novels, he worked with people like T.H. le Roux en M.S.B. Kritzinger to make the works of the Dutch poet and playwright Vondel accessible to Afrikaans-speaking students. Among these is the annotated edition of Vondel's tragedies Josef in Dotan and Lucifer (with Le Roux), and Het Pascha, Gebroeders, De leeuwendalers and Gijsbrecht van Amstel (all with Kritzinger).