Miemie-Louw Theron

Miemie-Louw Theron (1898-1992) was an Afrikaans author and playwright.

Note on her name

Though some sources (e.g. the Afrikaans Wikipedia) insist on writing her married name in the more conventional fashion, i.e. as Miemie Louw-Theron (i.e. her first name followed by the hyphenated maiden name and husband's surname), she apparently insisted that her name and maiden be written as a single hyphenated name - followed by her husband's surname.

Biography

Born Maria Catharina Elizabeth Louw on the farm Rietfontein in die Bethal district of the Transvaal on 25 July 1898, she was the youngest of six children.

She was initially home schooled, then attended the Hoogenhout Hoërskool in Bethal, and going on to qualify as a teacher at the Transvaalse Universiteitskollege in Pretoria. She taught Latin and Dutch at the Potchefstroom Hoër Meisieskool while completing an M.A. degree at the Potchefstroomse Universiteitskollege die M.A.-graad. In 1925 she met and married Pieter Francois Theron of the farm Uitvlug near Tulbagh in the Cape. The couple settled there and she kept herself occupied with raising their three children, being involved in community service and taking up writing as a career. She lived there for much of the rest of her life.

She passed away in Tulbagh in late September, 1992.

Her contribution to South African theatre, film, media and performance

Besides a large number of short stories and novels published between 1928 and 1975, she also wrote two full-length Afrikaans plays: Argentinië: Oos Wes, Tuis Bes (1938) and Die Verlore Dogter (1951).