Thelma Gutsche

Thelma Gutsche (1915-1984). Scholar, author, cultural figure and theatre personality.

Worked as a government field adviser, was a founder member of the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Simon van der Stel Foundation. Wrote a number of biographies (inter alia of Lady Florence Philips - 1966 - and Sir Arnold Theiler - 1979).

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

Wrote extensively on South african stage and cinema in a variety of publications, including prominent encyclopaedias. (See the the works listed under "Gutsche" in ESAT Bibliography.)

Of special importance for film studies is her PhD thesis at the University of Cape Town (The History and Social Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa, 1895-1940) which was originally published by the University of Cape Town in a limited edition in 1946 and later formally published by Howard Timmins in 1972.

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