Herman Charles Bosman

• Born — 3 February 1905 • Birthplace — Kuils River, South Africa • Died — 14 October 1951 • Place of death — Johannesburg, South Africa • Occupation — * Novelist • short-story writer • satirist • artist

Bosman was born at Kuils River, near Cape Town, in the Cape Colony, to an Afrikaner family. He was raised with English as well as Afrikaans. While Bosman was still young, his family travelled frequently, he spent a short time at Potchefstroom College which would later become Potchefstroom High School for Boys, he later moved to Johannesburg where he went to school at Jeppe High School for Boys in Kensington. While there he contributed to the school magazine. When Bosman was sixteen, he started writing short stories for the national Sunday newspaper (the Sunday Times). He attended the Johannesburg College of Education (which in 2002 was incorporated into the University of the Witwatersrand) and submitted various pieces to student literary competitions.

After graduation, Bosman accepted a teaching position in the Groot Marico district in an Afrikaans-language school. The area provided the backdrop for his best-known short stories, the Oom Schalk Lourens series (featuring an older character named Oom Schalk Lourens) and the Voorkamer sketches. In January 1926 he married Vera Sawyer in Johannesburg. They never lived together, and Bosman seldom told anyone about the marriage, but they remained on good terms throughout Bosman's life. Over the June school holidays in 1926, Bosman visited his family in Johannesburg. During an argument, he shot and killed his stepbrother. Bosman was sentenced to death for this crime and was sent to death row at the Pretoria Central Prison. His sentence was later reduced to ten years with hard labour. In 1930, Bosman was released on parole after serving half his sentence. His prison experiences formed the basis for his semi-autobiographical book, Cold Stone Jug. Bosman then started his own printing-press company and was part of a literary set in Johannesburg, associating with poets, journalists and writers, including Aegidius Jean Blignaut. He toured overseas for nine years, spending most of his time in London. The short stories that he wrote during this period formed the basis for another of his best-known books, Mafeking Road. At the start of the Second World War, he returned to South Africa and worked as a journalist. During this time, in early 1947, he translated the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam into Afrikaans. Bosman lamented the fact that Johannesburg neglected its heritage. In The Standard Theatre he complained that the city's residents: "will pull down the Standard Theatre like they have pulled down all the old buildings, theatres, gin-palaces, dosshouses, temples, shops, arcades, cafes and joints that were intimately associated with the mining-camp days of Johannesburg. Because I know Johannesburg. And I am satisfied that there is no other city in the world that is so anxious to shake off the memories of its early origins." Bosman's second wife was Ellalean Manson, known as Ella, a pianist and poet. They met in 1931 and married in October 1932 in Johannesburg. The couple were renowned for their bohemian lifestyle and parties, which featured witty conversation and usually ended well after midnight. Bosman's third and last wife was Helena Stegmann, a schoolteacher and artist. They married in Johannesburg in March 1944. From 1948 to his death in 1951, Bosman was employed as proof editor at The Sunday Express. In addition, he was contracted to write a weekly Voorkamer story for The Forum magazine. After a housewarming party in October 1951, Bosman experienced severe chest pains and was taken to Edenvale Hospital. On admission, he was asked for his birthplace. He replied, "Born Kuilsrivier – died Edenvale Hospital." He was discharged, but collapsed at home a few hours later. He died as he was being rushed back to hospital. He is buried in Westpark Cemetery in Westdene under a triangular headstone that reads "Die Skrywer, The Writer, Herman Charles Bosman, b 3.2.1905, d 14.10.1951."

• Cold Stone Jug (1982) adapted by Barney Simon from the play by Stephen Gray Human & Rousseau

Herman Charles Bosman was born on 3 February 1905 in Kuils River (town). Bosman held the nationality of South Africa. Bosman was educated at University of the Witwatersrand. Bosman died on 14 October 1951 in Edenvale. Bosman is buried at Westpark Cemetery.

• Some of the ISBNs and publishers below may not be for the original edition. • Mafeking Road & Other Stories (1947), Human & Rousseau, Archipelago Books (2008) • Rubaijat van Omar Khajjam (1948), Colin Reed-McDonald • Cold Stone Jug (1949), Human & Rousseau • Veld-trails and Pavements Central News Agency • Unto Dust (1963), edited by Lionel Abrahams, Anthony Blond • Bosman at his Best: a choice of stories and sketches (1965) edited by Lionel Abrahams Human & Rousseau • Bosman's Johannesburg (1986) edited by Stephen Gray Human & Rousseau • Ramoutsa Road (1987) Ad. Donker • A Bekkersdal Marathon (1971), Human & Rousseau • The Earth is Waiting (1974) • Willemsdorp (1977), Human & Rousseau • Almost Forgotten Stories (1979) H. Timmins • My Friend Herman Charles Bosman [1980] Perskor. author: Aegidius Jean Blignaut • Dead End Road [1980] AD.Donker. author: Aegidius Jean Blignaut • Selected Stories (1980), edited by Stephen Gray, Human & Rousseau • The Collected Works of Herman Charles Bosman (1981), edited by Lionel Abrahams, Jonathan Ball • The Bosman I like (1981), edited by Patrick Mynhardt, Human & Rousseau • Death Hath Eloquence (1981), edited by Aegidius Jean Blignaut, Christelike Uitgewersmaatskappy • Uncollected Essays (1981), Timmins • The Illustrated Bosman (1985), Jonathan Ball • Makapan's Cave and other stories (1987), edited by Stephen Gray, Penguin Books. • A Bosman Treasury (1991), edited by Ian Lusted, Human & Rousseau • Jurie Steyn's Post Office (1991), Human & Rousseau • Herman Charles Bosman: the prose juvenilia (1998), collected and introduced by M. C. Andersen, University of South Africa • Idle Talk: voorkamer stories (1999), edited by Craig MacKenzie, Human & Rousseau • Old Transvaal Stories (2000), edited by Craig MacKenzie, Human & Rousseau • The Rooinek and Other Boer War Stories (2000), edited by Craig MacKenzie, Human & Rousseau • Jacaranda in the Night (2000), Human & Rousseau • Best of Bosman (2001), edited by Stephen Gray and Craig MacKenzie, Human & Rousseau • Seed-Time and Harvest, and Other Stories (2001), edited by Craig MacKenzie, Human & Rousseau • Verborge Skatte: Herman Charles Bosman in/on Afrikaans (2001), collected by Leon de Kock, Human & Rousseau