John Christoffel Kannemeyer

KANNEMEYER, John Christoffel (31/3/1939-) Lecturer, critic and eminent literary historian. Born in Robertson, Western Cape, he studied Afrikaans-Dutch literature at the University of Stellenbosch between 1959 and 1964, obtaining a D.Litt. Taught at the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Witwatersrand. He moves to the HSRC in 1987, staying there till 1992, after which he becomes a free-lance writer. Besides his comprehensive and authoritative Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Literatuur ("History of the Afrikaans Literature") Part 1 (1978) and part 2 (1983) - which includes sections on Afrikaans drama - he is noted for his exhaustive biographies of various authors. Notable for our purposes are those on the playwrights D.J. Opperman, C.J. Langenhoven, C. Louis Leipoldt and Uys Krige. In 1993 he also published a summarised English version of his history, entitled A History of the Afrikaans Literature. [TH]

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