C. Louis Leipoldt

LEIPOLDT, C. Louis (1880-1947) Poet, novelist, playwright, chef, medical doctor. Born in Clanwilliam, he trained as a medical doctor at the Universities of Cape Town and Oxford?* and returned to practice in **. Wrote in Dutch, Afrikaans and English. His published poems include the collections Oom Gert Vertel ("Uncle Gert Narrates" - 1911) and Geseënde Skaduwees ("Blessed Shadows" - 1949) and the epic English poem The Ballad of Dick King (1949). *** His most important and influential play was Die Hamer van die Hekse ("The Hammer of the Witches"), a short play written in response to a performance of * [Perhaps The Rosary, by ***. A play about ***. Produced by Leonard Rayne at the Standard Theatre and the ** theatre in Cape Town??in 19**???. A THOUGHT*] ***. He later revised and published it as Die Heks ("The Witch"), and it was then taken up by Paul de Groot for his first/second??* professional production in 1925. With that Afrikaans theatre was seen as having come of age artistically and the play has been produced often since and was for very many years a standard prescribed work for schools. A new version of the play (Hamer van die Hekse), based on the original text, was done by André P. Brink in 198* and performed by PACT. Other plays include Die Vergissing ("The misinterpretation"), Die Swart Gevaar (The black danger"), Die Laaste Aand ("The last night"), Die Lang Nag???**. His autobiography (Bushveld Doctor) was published in 1935 by **), while a biography by John Kannemeyer was published by Tafelberg?** in 2001*? Stephen Gray - who rescued Leipoldt's English novel (Stormwrack*?) and had it published - has also written on Leipoldt in English. [TH]