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UFS sympathises with the passing of Dr Dolf van Niekerk

03 January 2023 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Evert Kleynhans

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.

News Archive

Writer Etienne van Heerden to explore the politics of memory

2013-09-12

Prof Van Heerden

Dialogue between Science and Society (DbSS) presents The Politics of Memory, a Personal Narrative by Professor Etienne van Heerden, Hofmeyr Professor at the School of Languages and Literatures (University of Cape Town).

Respondents: Stuart Taberner, Professor of Contemporary German Literature, Culture and Society (University of Leeds) and André Wessels, Senior Professor, Department of History (University of the Free State).

This event is part of the project Contemporary German and Afrikaner Cultural Responses to Issues of Trauma, Reconciliation and Reparation, funded by the British Academy. The UFS partners on this project are Dr’s Cilliers Van Den Berg, Johann Rossouw and Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. They are co-organising the event with the DbSS Lecture Series.

In his paper, Prof Van Heerden will discuss Afrikaner literature about past and present historical events and how to negotiate the place of literature in a post-apartheid South Africa.

Date: Thursday 12 September 2013
Time: 12:00
Venue: Business School Auditorium, University of the Free State
RSVP to Gerald Makamba: makambagerald@gmail.com

Light refreshments will be served.

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