Some remarkable Jews in Southern Africa … and other stories

Preamble: Browsing through my copy of Eric Rosenthal’s “Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa” fifth edition, I was struck by the many entries of Jewish interest in the affairs of our country that had warranted inclusion in this one volume work.

Though some of these personages are little known to have been born Jewish, and some have been included who have no mention of ‘belonging to the faith’ when their surnames are typically Jewish, I thought it would be fascinating, as a genealogist and a member of the Jewish Genealogical Society Johannesburg, to reproduce those particular monographs in our quarterly newsletter, YICHUS.

In February 2002 I wrote to the publishers, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd in London seeking permission to publish, but received no reply. In November last year, telling Larna Bronstein, who is a librarian, a bibliophile, a mine of information and a member of the JGSJ, about this project, she suggested that I try to reach Richard Rosenthal in CapeTown, a son of Eric and also an executor in his father’s estate for permission to publish.

Not having a Cape Town phone book, I phoned a friend of long standing who was a member of the JGSJ (out of solidarity to the founder), David Liknaitzky now living in the Cape for Richard’s phone number. Richard sounded quite pleased to hear my request and said feel free – go ahead, or words to that effect. So here goes.

I have chosen upwards of seventy items for this article. They are not only of persons, but also of towns and other matters of interest to me arising out of the subjects included. Thus, you don’t have to be Jewish to be listed in this series! Those non-Jews included by me had some bearing, influence or effect on Jewish affairs in this country. These seventy-odd items will thus be serialised over future issues of YICHUS. If any readers have additional data on the subjects written up, I will be happy to include them (subject to available space) in ongoing issues of our newsletter.

Note: [1]. I have seen a copy of the 7th edition of the Encyclopaedia, published locally by Juta & Co. in my local Public Library, but I have not used it here. 2]. Both the preamble and the comments within the square brackets below are the additions and observations of the compiler of this series, Ivan Elion.

Alexander, Morris. South African lawyer and legislator. Born in 1877 at Zlin in East Prussia, he emigrated as a child to the Cape, where he attended the South African College (SACS), afterwards qualifying as a barrister at Cambridge. In 1900 he was called to the bar and established himself in Cape Town. He soon became a prominent worker on behalf of the Jewish community, which was still suffering disabilities, and he also became the mouthpiece and champion of the Coloured people. In 1905 he was elected to the Cape Town City Council and in 1908 to the Cape Parliament. He never stopped his work for the oppressed and enjoyed the respect of his opponents. Apart from helping in securing the recognition of Yiddish as a European language, he put the case for the Indians and strongly opposed the entry of strangers into South Africa. He died in 1946.

Barnato, Barnett (Barney) Isaacs. Mining magnate. Born in 1852 as Barnett Isaacs, son of a publican in the East End of London, he became a part-time vaudeville entertainer and boxer with his brother Henry (q.v.), for which purpose they assumed the name of Barnato. In 1873 Barney followed Henry to Kimberley, where they worked as diggers, diamond buyers and speculators, acquiring great wealth. Through gaining control of several important mines they came in touch with Cecil Rhodes (q.v.). The ensuing struggle resulted in a merger of interests in 1888, Barney Barnato becoming an original Life Governor of De Beers Consolidated Mines. From 1889 to 1897 he was member of the Cape Parliament for Kimberley. After the gold discoveries in the Transvaal he moved his headquarters to the Rand, where in 1889 he founded the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co. (q.v.), though the firm of Barnato Brothers remained in existence. He was a dominant and colourful figure in the financial, mining, theatrical and sporting worlds, in both South Africa and England. Towards the end his nerves gave way and in 1897 he jumped over-board travelling between Southampton and the Cape and was drowned. His estate was valued at just under $1,000,000.

Barnato, Henry. Mining magnate. Born in London in 1850, came to South Africa with his brother, Barney in 1871. Together they attained great wealth in the Diamond Fields, Henry having by far the larger fortune. He returned to England, became a well-known racehorse owner and died in 1908, leaving £5,800,000.

Baumann, Gustav. Surveyor-General of the Orange Free State Republic. Born at Bloemfontein in 1858, son of Isaac Baumann, a German-Jewish pioneer and first mayor of that town, he studied at Grey College and qualified as a surveyor. As Surveyor-General in 1896 he perfected the system of title registration. Fought in the South African War, was taken prisoner and returned to practice, writing a textbook of land surveying in 1906. He died in 1930.

Beit, Alfred. Capitalist and co-founder with Cecil John Rhodes of Southern Rhodesia. Born in Hamburg in the same year as Cecil Rhodes, on Feb 15, 1853, of an old Jewish family. He learnt the diamond trade under Jules Porges (qv) in Amsterdam and elsewhere. In 1875 he went to Port Elizabeth on behalf of his cousins, the Lipperts (qv), who sent him to Kimberley as their representative. There he came into touch with Julius Wernher (qv) and Rhodes. Attaining considerable prosperity as a diamond merchant, he became a member of the firm of Jules Porges & Co., and on the retirement of Porges, he and Wernher converted this firm in 1884 to Wernher, Beit & Co. Returning to England he joined forces with Rhodes in his efforts to amalgamate the diamond mines, which resulted in the foundation of De Beers. He was also one of the principal figures in the Chartered Company in the first efforts to open up Rhodesia. Wernher, Beit & Co. presently became leaders in Barberton and then in the Witwatersrand gold industry. Unlike Rhodes, he did his utmost to keep out of politics, though his friendship with him remained undiminished, and he was one of the main trustees and heirs under his will. Upon Alfred Beit’s death on July 16 1906, the Beit Trust came into existence. He also bequeathed enormous gifts for university education and research in South Africa, Rhodesia, Britain and Germany.

Beit, Sir Otto John. Capitalist and philanthropist. Younger brother of Alfred Beit, he was born in Hamburg on December 7 1865, and came to the Rand in 1890 as a member of the firm of Herman Eckstein & Co. In 1896 he returned to London, but maintained his contact with the gold and diamond industries. After his brother’s death in 1906 he retired and devoted his efforts mostly to the development of the Rhodes Trust, the Beit Trust and other institutions, to which he gave large sums. He died on December 7 1930.

Bergtheil, Jonas. Natal pioneer. Born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1819. He was of Jewish origin, and came to the Cape in 1834. Nine years later, Bergtheil settled in Natal, where he intended to establish cotton-growing.. A strong protagonist of immigration, he organised several schemes, first attempting to bring colonists from the British Isles and later from Germany. Ultimately, in November 1847, he chartered a ship, which brought from Germany 188 men, women and children to Natal. These were settled near Pinetown in the area now known as New Germany. He was also largely responsible for the construction of the first railway in South Africa, from Durban to the Point, of which he became a director. In 1866 Bergtheil settled in England, where he died in 1902.

Cachet, Rev. Jan Lion. Pioneer of the Afrikaans language. Born in 1838 of Jewish origen. The family name was Stempel (meaning ‘seal’), which was later translated into French, Cachet. He reached South Africa at the age of 23, and became a teacher at Cape Town, … … a Dutch Reformed Minister in 1868 at Rustenberg, … … a strong supporter of the Gereformeerde Kerk (the Doppers), … … in 1875 in Philipstown, later in Steynsburg, … … eventually in 1904 at the Theological College in Potchefstroom. He died in 1912.

Cape Cart. Two-wheeled conveyance of sturdy construction, formerly in universal use in Southern Africa. Drawn by two horses, it could carry half-a-dozen passengers under a canvas or leather hood. Most Cape carts were constructed locally. [I put this in because my very observant maternal grandfather farmed 17 miles out of Colesberg. As my grandmother disdained living on the farm, my grandfather would go out on Sunday in his Cape cart and return on Thursday afternoon, to be sure to be home in good time for shabbos. Every winter school holiday with my siblings we would go to Colesberg by train from Mossel Bay with our white nanny, but went to the farm with our Grampa, leaving the nanny with our Granny in town.] Cape Corps dates back to 1793 when a company of Pandours, comprising Coloured men and Hottentots was raised to defend the Colony against the British. … … A new battalion was raised and in April 1918 sent to the Middle East under General Allenby, taking part in the critical battle at Square Hill in Palestine on September 19, 1918.

Castle Line. Steamship line founded in 1872, when Sir Donald Currie sent the chartered Iceland to Cape Town. Name formally adopted in 1876, when the mail contract was divided between Castle and Union Lines. Rivalry between two concerns ended in 1900 with a merging into the Union-Castle Line [which carried most of the Litvak immigrants to South Africa].

Cohen, Abner. Jewish South African pioneer, founder of the town of Krugersdorp. Born in London in 1860, he emigrated in 1877 to New Zealand, but left two years later. In 1881 came to the Cape. One of the early arrivals on the Witwatersrand, he established the Homelands Estate near Johannesburg, and in 1887 founded Krugersdorp. He died in 1937.

Cohen, Dr Emil. Mineralogist, geologist and explorer. Born at Aakjaer in Denmark on 12 Oct 1842, he came to S.A. for the firm of Lippert & Co. (q.v.) in 1872 to report on the newly-discovered Diamond Fields. He remained for over a year, conducting extensive investigations, not only in Griqualand West but also in the Transvaal, where he made some of the first reports on the Lydenburg Gold Field. Maintained contacts with S.A. after his return to Europe. In 1878he became Professor of Geology at Strasbourg, Alsace. He was also an authority on meteorites. Died on 3 April 1905.

Colesberg. Town in the Northern Cape Province, originally called Toverberg (Magic Mountain). Founded in November 1830, named after Governor Sir Lowrey Cole. One of the oldest municipalities in Cape Colony, established 1840. Scene of considerable fighting during the Anglo-Boer War, was held by the Boers for several months. Important wool and horse-breeding area. Population: 5 310, including 1 400 whites [in 1970 when the fifth Edition of Rosenthal’s Encyclopaedia was published.] [Now you know why I have listed Cape Cart & Colesberg – my grandfather on his farm cultivated vast fields of lucerne under irrigation, raised red mealies, Sheared merinos for their wool, kept dairy cows, sent milk to the Co-op, and went out and back every week in his Cape Cart. In the middle 1950’s my grandfather was the last surviving resident Jew there. He sold the Synagogue which became a local bank and sent the money from the sale to Israel, allegedly to a hospital in Ashkelon. On my first visit to Israel in 1964, he commissioned me to find out to what use the money had been put. At the hospital my cousin Ted was the Chief Pharmacist. In spite of all collective efforts, no plaque-on-the-wall record was found of the Colesberg donation.]

Cory, Sir George Edward. South African historian. Born in London in 1862, educated at Hurstpierpoint in Sussex and King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied chemistry. At the age of 29 he came to S.A. as vice-principal at the Government school, Grahamstown. Became lecturer in chemistry and physics at St. Andrew’s College, Grahamstown, and, when Rhodes University College was established in 1904, he accepted the Chair of Chemistry, besides being Public Analyst for the Eastern Province. Undertook long tours, and studied ruins and relics on the eastern frontier. Thus began his famous work, The Rise of South Africa, the standard history of the Eastern Province, especially of the 1820 Settlers (q.v.) and their successors. During his lifetime five large volumes were published, while a sixth was issued years later as part of the Union Archives Yearbook. Also invented the Cory coffee percolator, from which he derived little pecuniary advantage. He died in 1935. [Sir George is mentioned here because the Cory Library at Rhodes University is named for him and is the archive of all the Methodist Church records in S.A., also for the 1820 Settler records and thus a very useful genealogical resource.]

Currie, Sir Donald. Shipowner. Born in Greenock, Scotland on 17 September 1825, educated in Belfast and began work in 1842 with a Liverpool shipping firm. Came in contact with the Cunard Line, and was its agent from 1849 to 1862. Began his own business, sending his first vessels to the East; in 1872 changed to the Cape and established the famous Castle Line. Competing with the older Union Line (q.v.) he soon dominated the trade to S.A. He became wealthy, helped in settlement of political disputes on the Diamond Fields and was elected to the House of Commons in 1880. In 1890 amalgamated the two rival companies into Union-Castle Line (q.v.). Chiefly remembered by the public as the founder of the celebrated sporting trophy, the Currie Cup.[and because his ships brought so many Jewish settlers from the Baltic States to S.A. at £10 a head for the passage, as mentioned before.] Died on 13 April 1909.

De Aar. Town and railway junction in the Karroo, 500 miles from Cape Town. Founded as a wayside halt in the 1870’s by the Friedlander Brothers, on a farm named after an ‘Aar’ or underground vein of water. Became the junction of lines to the eastern Cape and the Orange Free State. During the Anglo-Boer War was the base for Lord Roberts. In 1914 the link-up with the railways in German South West Africa was carried out at the rate of over 1 mile a day. Olive Schreiner lived there for a number of years. [Larna Bronstein told me who the Friedlanders were: Two brothers, Wulf born 1846 and Isaac born 1858 in Courland, Latvia, who came to the Cape in 1878 and travelled by ox wagon, settling in the district in 1879. They opened a trading store and a small hotel. The railway line went north through De Aar in 1884, to the diamond fields in Kimberley, and the brothers prospered. In 1899 they bought the farm “De Aar” for £11 000. Towards the end of that year the Anglo-Boer War broke out and a depot and hospital for the British troops was established there. In 1902, after the war ended, they converted the farm into a township, erven being sold by public auction. The Friedlanders donated plots for a synagogue, to churches of all denominations, to schools, a hospital, a town hall, sports fields and commonages. Isaac died in 1925 at De Aar, Wulf died at Cape Town in 1928.]

Eighteen-Twenty Settlers. Group of British pioneers settled on the Cape Eastern frontier. The reasons for their coming were wo-fold, being partly due to the distress prevailing in the British Isles after the Napoleonic Wars, and partly to the desire of the Colonial authorities to provide an effective defence for the still empty regions of the Colony. Discussion of the project began in 1819, although some earlier parties had settled at Clanwilliam. Mr Vansittart, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, secured a grant of some £50, 000 from Parliament in England to finance the scheme. No fewer than 90,000 people applied for passages, from whom 4,000 were officially selected, comprising 2,415 men and 1,585 women, but a number of independent settlers arrived, bringing the total to early 5,000. They were divided into about 60 parties, and provided an enormous addition to the very modest white population of the Cape Colony. This comprised only 47,000 of whom only 4,000 were of British origin. Ships sailed from London, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Bristol and Cork. Most of the settlers were of a very good type, and included members of leading families. The first ship to arrive was the Chapman, which reached Algoa Bay on 9 April 1820, while the last was the Duke of Marlborough, which arrived towards the end of June. Ground was provided and several new settlements planted, including Bathurst. Many of the early settlers had an extremely difficult time [most of them were not farmers], and a fund was established for their assistance in 1823, but most of them established them-selves, if not on the land, then in the towns, and made an incalculable contribution towards the development of South Africa. [explanation for this entry: Some of you may remember that I wrote an article on Maurice Garcia, an 1820 Settler, of Anglo/Portuguese ancestry, in an early issue of YICHUS, after finding financial data on him in nineteenth century Standard Bank archives in Simmonds Street. I will write about him when I get to his place in the alphabet.]

Elyan, Sir Isadore Victor. Born in Dublin 5 September 1909. Son of Jacob Elyan, PC, JP and Olga Elyan, married in 1939 Ivy Ethel Stuart-Weir (she was ‘meguya-ed’ check the spelling!) no children, died 1965, married 1966 Rosaleen Jeanette O’Shea [known to me as Pat; she was a Mossel Bay girl] MA LLB Trinity College Dublin 1932. Senior Magistrate in HM Colonial Legal Service, Gold Coast 1946-55. Puisne Judge in High Commission Territories South Africa 1955-70, Knighted 1970. Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Durban-Westville University 1973-77 Served in WW II 1942-46 attached to Indian Army, with rank of Major. Retired to Fish Hoek, Cape. Died at St. James, Cape 16 February 2000. [Victor is not listed by Eric Rosenthal, but I put him in because he is ‘family’. How many Jews, these days, can boast of a Knight Bachelor in their family? Above data on Victor is only partially quoted from his entry in Who’s Who 1997, 149th Edition, A & C Black, London.]

Galsworthy, John. English novelist. Born in 1867 at Coombe in Surrey. His father, John Galsworthy senior was a director of the Cape Copper Co. As a young man John junior was sent to Namaqualand as Mine Secretary at O’okiep. He presented copies of his books to the mine staff library years later. In 1929 he revisited South Africa, He died in 1933. [He is best-known for the TV serial of the same name as his novel The Forsyte Saga, which was also made into a movie]

Gama, Vasco da. Portuguese explorer and navigator. In January 1497 King Emmanuel appointed him to command a new expedition to attempt to reach India by sea round Africa. Da Gama studied reports by Bartholomew Diaz and by his chief steersman, Pero d’Alenquer, and set forth with 4 ships on 8 July 1497, from the River Tagus. Four months later the flagship, San Gabriel, with its companions, reached St. Helena Bay, near the present Velddrift. Passed the Cape of Good Hope and reached Mossel Bay [where I come from. These early navigators left messages under a ‘melkhout boom’, today a colossal tree and a National Monument.] … … eventually reaching India in May 1498.

Goldberg, Benjamin Disraeli. Former Rhodesian Cabinet Minister. Born in Dublin, Ireland, 12 May 1902, came to Rhodesia aged 10 and was educated at Salisbury and the University of Cape Town. Began practice at Umtali as a solicitor and was elected to the Federal Parliament as member for Border, December 1953. In 1956 became Minister for Home Affairs in the Federal Cabinet under Sir Roy Welen-sky and in 1962 Minister of Health.

Haartebeestpoort. Large irrigation scheme west of Pretoria. Gap in the mountains and the Crocodile River, dammed up by a concrete wall 460 feet long, 161 feet high above the river bed and 193 feet above the foundations. Work began in August 1916 and was completed about 1921. When full the dam covers 6½ square miles and can irrigate 40,000 acres. The townships of Schoemansville and Kosmos have been laid out on its shores and yachting is a popular sport. [a nephew of my maternal grandmother, Colonel D. Levinkind (which makes him my second cousin of one remove) had much to do with the construction of the dam wall, and has his name on a brass plaque affixed to the wall.]

Herrman, Dr. Louis. South African historian and educationist. Born at Southampton in 1883, and studied there, at the University of London and University of Cape Town. Having qualified as a teacher he came to Cape Town in 1907, but maintained his original interest in science, specialising in Social Biology, on which he did research in London. He became principal of Cape Town High School in 1933. His best-known work is The History of the Jews in South Africa, originally published in 1930. He wrote extensively on Jewish South African history and in 1935 In the Sealed Cave, a Scientific Fantasy.

Isaacs, Nathaniel. Pioneer of early Natal. Born at Canterbury in 1808, he belonged to an old Jewish family in England. In 1822, having lost his father, he joined his uncle, father of the famous South African statesman, Saul Solomon (q.v.), then still living in St. Helena. In 1825 a post in the brig Mary under Lt. King, R.N., began a series of adventures that took him to Natal, where he was shipwrecked. He gained the friendship of the Zulu king, Tshaka, secured concessions which might have made Natal a British colony many years before this came to pass, but failed to interest the authorities. He set down his ex-periences in his book Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, which appeared in London in 1836, and told the story from 1825 to 1832. Later he settled in West Africa, near Sierra Leone, where he was last heard of in 1858.

Israelites. Bantu sect which established itself in 1921, under a leader named Enoch, at Bulhoek, on ground outside Queenstown, C.P. Efforts were made to remove them from their squatters’ camp, but they ignored any requests and the authorities finally sent down a patrol of 400 police. Even then they refused to move. In the end force was used and a considerable number of the Israelites were killed and injured.

Jews. Apart from the Jewish map-makers on the island of Majorca, who supplied the charts used by the early navigators to round the Cape of Good Hope, and the Jewish pilots who guided Vasco da Gama (q.v.) from the East African coast to India, Jews were among the founders of the Dutch East India Company and baptised Jews were among van Riebeeck’s first colonists at the Cape. Several of the well-known figures in the early days, including Adam Tas (q.v.) were of Jewish origin. Until the end of the 18th century, however, their numbers were few and there was no organised observance of their religion. After the first British occupation a certain number arrived as soldiers and in other capacities. Several Jews were also among the 1820 Settlers, notably the Norden, Soloman and Norton families. Immigration from Germany began to grow from the arrival of the Mosenthals in the 1830’s and continued steadily through the Victorian age, being considerably stimulated by the discovery of diamonds and of gold. The first Jewish congregation was established in Cape Town in 1841, followed by others in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth and elsewhere. From the 1870’s substantial numbers of Jews from Eastern Europe reached South Africa, many of them settling on the Diamond and Gold Fields. Before the end of the 19th century they greatly surpassed the Jewish immigrants from Britain, Germany and Western Europe. In every field of activity, from introducing Angora goats to the Cape to the opening coal mines in the Transvaal, pioneering manufactures, etc., Jews played a prominent part. Several were elected into early Colonial Legislatures. Important milestones were the establishment of the Transvaal (later the South African) Jewish Board of Deputies in 1903, and the recognition f Yiddish as a European language for immigration purposes. A large percentage of South African Jews could trace their origins to a group of small villages in Lithuania, particularly round Ponevez. World War I greatly reduced immigration from this area, and the adoption of the Quota Law in 1930 practically terminated it. There was a further revival of Jewish immigration owing to Nazi persecutions after 1933, but this too was heavily reduced after 1935. Of about 130 000 Jews in South Africa, more than half live on the Witwatersrand, about 50 000 in Johannesburg. Jews have also been connected with the history of Rhodesia from the earliest times, including traders long before the occupation. Several Jews were in the Pioneer Column, and others lost their lives in the Shangani Patrol. The largest community in Rhodesia today is in Bulawayo. Altogether there are about 5,000 in Rhodesia, Zambia and Malawi.

Joel, Jack Barnato. Mine magnate. Brother of S.B. Joel, born in London, 1652. He entered the firm of Barnato Brothers, but soon returned to England. Was a well-known racehorse owner and sportsman, and won the Derby in 1911 with ‘Sunstar’. He died in 1940.

Joel, Solomon Barnato. Mine magnate. Born in 1866 in London, the brother of Jack Joel, and a nephew of B.I. Barnato. Coming to South Africa as a young man, he settled in Johannesburg and soon became a prominent figure. During the Reform Movement, he was imprisoned and fined. Upon the death of B. I. Barnato and his brother Wolf, S. B. Joel became head of the firm Barnato Bros. And of Johannesburg Consolidated Investment. He settled in England, where he was known as a leading racehorse owner. In 1915 he won the Derby with his horse ‘Pommern’. He died on May 22, 1931.

Joel, Wolf. Mining magnate. Nephew of Barney Barnato, and brother of S. B. Joel. Born in London, 1864, he came to South Africa in 1889, and was a popular figure in early Johannesburg. In 1898 the German adventurer, von Veltheim (q.v.) tried forcing him into a plot to Kidnap President Kruger and when Joel refused, shot him dead in his office. He left over £2 000 000.

Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co. Ltd. Mining group, established by B. I. Barnato (q.v.) in September 1989. In 1905 it took over the Barnato Consolidated Mines Ltd. It has large holdings in the gold, coal, brewing and other industries.

Juta, Jan Carl. Publisher. Born at Zaltbommel, Holland, in 1824, of a family from Stralsund in Germany; married Louise Marx, sister of Karl Marx [the family name was Mordechai -page 202 “A History of the Jews in South Africa”, by Louis Herrman], the author of Das Kapital, and in 1853 emigrated to the Cape, where he established himself as bookseller and publisher. Handling a wide range of subjects, he specialised in legal and educational works, and started the first regular series of law reports in the 1860’s, which continue to appear. He was also responsible for many famous books on South Africa, including Thomas Bowler’s Album of Cape Town in 1866, and works on Bantu languages. In later years Juta’s health deteriorated and he went to England, where he died in 1886.

Karridene. Seaside resort on the South Coast of Natal. Founded by and named after Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Karri-Davis, pioneer of the Rand, who came from Karridale in Western Australia, and started the import of Karri timber to South Africa. The village came into existence during World War I. [I saw, or read somewhere that Karri-Davis was of Jewish stock, but can’t recall the reference!]

Kingklip. (Genypterus capensis) Fish found off west coast from St. Helena Bay to Cape Point, and Agulhas Bank to Algoa Bay. About 5-6 feet long. A fairly deep-water fish and one of the finest for eating. [much favoured in Jewish cooking. Growing up in Mossel Bay, as children, we used to catch small kingklip in tidal rock-pools using a bent pin on a length of line with a periwinkle as bait. We knew they had no scales and could never understand how they became kosher.]

Kottler, Moses. South African sculptor. Born in Europe in 1896, he came to the Cape very young. He studied in Palestine, at Munich and in Paris. As a young man he showed exceptional gifts and became known internationally for his sensitive work in various media, including wood, stone and bronze. Among his best-known sculptures are the statues of ‘Meidjie’, a young African girl, of General Christiaan de Wet, whom he knew personally, and of President T. F. Burgers, and the carvings on the Johannesburg Public Library, etc.

Kushlick, Taubie. South African theatrical producer. Born Taubie Braun, May 7, 1910, in Port Elizabeth, where she studied locution at the Holy Rosary Convent, continuing at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Both as actress and producer she has gained a considerable reputation over a wide range of plays.

Landau, Dr. Judah Leo. South African Jewish scholar, poet and Rabbi. Born on May 4, 1866, near Brody, Galicia, in former ustria-Hungary, and descended from a long line of scholars, he became interested at an early age in the revival of Hebrew as a spoken and written language. After studying at the University of Vienna he gained his degree as Doctor of Philosophy in 1898 and soon after joined the Zionist movement, which had been founded by Dr.Theodor Herzl. In 1901 he took up the post of Rabbi in anchester, and in 1903 came to Johannesburg in a similar capacity. There he remained for the rest of his life as Chief Rabbi, as well as Professor of Hebrew at the University of the Witwatersrand and the holder of many other offices. His work as a writer began at the age of 15, when a long epic in Hebrew was published, followed by many books and dramas in the same language. He died in 1942.

Lazarus, Ezrael. Largest grain farmer in South Africa.

By Ivan Elion (for Yichus). Mostly from ERIC ROSENTHAL’S “ENCYCLOPAEDIA of SOUTHERN AFRICA”, 5th edition 1970, published by Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London