W.M. de Villiers

W.M. de Villiers (1988-1961) is a school principal and inspector, and an Afrikaans author and playwright.

Biography

Born William Murray de Villiers on 15 May 1888 in Goudini, Western Cape, he completed his matriculation at the Hoër Seunskool Worcester and studied at the Suid-Afrikaanse Kollege (South African College) in Cape Town, completing a B.A. Honnours degree Classical Languages in 1908. He later also completed a M.A.degree in Education at Columbia University in 1916.

He became teacher and taught at a range of schools over the years, including Michaelhouse College in Natal (1911–1912), the Jongens Hoërskool in Robertson, and in Beaufort West. In 1917 he joined the Transvaal Education Department and taught at Heidelberg Teachers' Training College for fifteen years.

In 1932 became principal of the High School in Standerton and in 1935 became inspector of education for the Transvaal, retiring in 1948. He returned to the Cape to live in the Strand and in Cape Town.

In 1935 he began writing articles and from 1939 also short stories, most of them published in Die Huisgenoot and in two collections of stories.

He had married Trudie de Villiers in 1923, and the couple had two daughters. He passed away on 8 June 1961 in Cape Town.