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03 January 2023
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Photo Evert Kleynhans
Dr Dolf van Niekerk.
The University of the Free State (UFS) would like to express its condolences to the family and friends of South African author, Dr Dolf van Niekerk, on his passing.
Dr Van Niekerk, the recipient of an
honorary doctorate from the UFS, passed away on 31 December 2022. The UFS awarded a Doctor of Letters to Dr Dolf van Niekerk during its April 2021 graduation ceremony.
Dr Van Niekerk was a celebrated author who also achieved fame as a dramatist and radio presenter. An alumnus of the UFS, he received a BA degree from the university cum laude in 1949. He also played a role in academia and was an emeritus professor at the University of Pretoria until his retirement in 1994. His work includes 27 books in philosophy, poetry, fiction, drama, and memoirs, for which he has received numerous awards. These include the
Eugene Marais Prize, the MER Prize, and the Scheepers Award for Youth Literature.
“Dr van Niekerk is a Kovsie alumnus with a deep connection to the Free State. He played a significant role in the country’s literary history, and it was an honour for the university to award him with an honorary degree. A wordsmith of note, Dr van Niekerk’s contributions to South African literature, radio, and stage will live on," says
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
FS government and the UFS host Charlotte Maxeke lecture
2009-08-06
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At the lecture were, from the left: Mr Frederick Mannya, Prof Jonathan Jansen (Rector and Vice-Chancellor: UFS), Ms Morime Mannya, Mr Sam Maxeke and Ms Irene Mokaila (all members of the Maxeke family).
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe |
The Free State Provincial Government and the University of the Free State (UFS) recently held the second Annual Charlotte Maxeke Memorial Lecture at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein. Maxeke was one of the founder members of the Bantu Womens League and the first B.Sc women graduate from the University of Wilberforce, Ohio, in the United States of America. Her most profound legacy is her enormous contribution to womens empowerment in the home and in society at large. She died in 1939 at the age of 65.