F.I.J. van Rensburg

F.I.J. van Rensburg (1922 - 2015) was an Afrikaans academic and literary critic.

BEING WRITTEN

Biography

Born Francois Izak Janse van Rensburg in Dewetsdorp in the Orange Free State on 18 Januarie 1922, and after a few years schooling in his home town, completed his primary education in Bloemfontein at the Dr Viljoenskool and matriculated at the Sentraal Hoërskool there in 1938.

In 1939 he began his tertiary studies at the University College of the Orange Free State to complete a BA degree in Dutch, History and English as majors in 1941. This was followed by an MA in 1944, and a doctorate from the Gemeentelijke Universiteit in Amsterdam in 1954.

He initially began working as a teacher in Ladybrand and Philippolis, before being appointed a lecturer at the Free State Technical College in 1945. After his return from Amsterdam in 1952 he again taught for a time in Kroonstad, before being appointed a lecturer at the University of the Orange Free State in 1955. In 1967 he was appointed the first professor and head of the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at the newly established Rand Afrikaans University.

He was married to Susan Grobler and the couple had four children, three daughters and a son.

He passed away on 10 Januarie 2015.

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

The author of numerous articles, essays, reviews and books on literary theory and Afrikaans literature, including a number of reviews and studies of plays and playwrights, among them Anthony Delius, Uys Krige and N.P. van Wyk Louw.

(For relevant items by Van Rensburg, see the ESAST Bibliography at ESAT Bibliography Van O-Van R.)

Sources

https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.I.J._van_Rensburg

https://www.litnet.co.za/fij-van-rensburg-1922-2015/

Go to the ESAT Bibliography

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