F.C.L. Bosman

(1898-1981) Academic, theatre historian and cultural leader. Born Frederik Christiaan Ludolph Bosman at Kuilsrivier. Studied at the University of Stellenbosch and did his doctorate at the University of Amsterdam. His most valuable work is most probably his almost single-handed creation of a tradition of theatre research in the country - as researcher and as an avid collector of Africana - particularly works on theatre and music. His thesis, a comprehensive study of drama and theatre in South Africa between 1652 and 1855, is perhaps one of the most awe-inspiring and meticulous pieces of historical research in the field to date. It was published in Afrikaans in 1928 and has become the source for most information on the 18th and 18th century theatre. In 1980 he published a second Afrikaans volume based on subsequent research and dealing with 1856 to 1916, though this was vastly inferior to the first volume. He published many other shorter works, in Afrikaans and English, on the theatre - largely based on the two key studies. He also supervised theses by other scholars working in the field, notably the doctoral study by Ludwig Binge, whose history of Afrikaans theatre in the first half of the 20th century has been most influential. *A member of the Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (AAWK), later becoming secretary [and chairman?*]. He also played a strong advisory role within the industry over the years. For example in Die Burger (10 October, 1936) he proposed a better coordination of theatre, particularly the Afrikaans professional theatre, in the country, asking the Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns and the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge to take a hand, which led to the founding of the Toneelbond in 1937. Though this was barely successful, it would be an idea he would regularly propose over the years. In 1948 he became a member of the management board of the National Theatre Organisation (representing the Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns). **