Stella Blakemore

Stella Blakemore (1906 – 1991) was a ramatist, novelist and singer.

Biography

Born near Lindley in the Free State, but went to school in Natal. Her mother, Emma Krogh, was a music teacher of Boer descent and her father was Captain Percy Blakemore, an officer in the British Army. After completing high school she studied piano and singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London, as well as opera in Germany. Afterwards she returned to South Africa where she taught for a time in Johannesburg and Pretoria, getting involved in amateur theatre. In 1933 she married the Welshman David Owen, a civil engineer, in London, which was the start of a period of worldwide travel for her. They lived, amongst other places, in Ghana, The Ivory Coast, Italy, England, Swaziland, Nigeria, Germany and Ireland. The couple had two children, Peter and Salene, both of whom were adopted.

Contribution to South African thatre, film, media and performance

She began writing in the 1920s in Germany, evenually producing 66 books. Her first work was an Afrikaans play, Die Goue Sleutel ("The Golden Key"). Another play, Blind Birds, was the winner of the inaugural playwrighting competition by the Krugersdorp Municipal Dramatic and Operatic Society in 1932. This was published. Her main contribution however was her novels for children and the youth, and the first of her popular Maasdorp series (Die Meisies van Maasdorp - "The Girls of Maasdorp")was also published in 1932. Fifteen other books in this series followed. Blakemore also wrote the twenty-book Keurboslaan series (under the male pseudonym Theunis Krogh). She also wrote books under the names Analize Biermann, Stella Owen and Diem Grimbeeck. Both the Maasdorp and Keurboslaan series made an important contribution to Afrikaans literature and are credited with instilling a love for reading in many South African children. She died in Northern Ireland, aged 85.

[JH, TH]