Deneys Schreiner was an academic, a scientist, and a man of strong liberal principles, with a good sense of humor and widespread interests in the sciences, arts, and public affairs.
Between the 1960s and 1980s, he supported and initiated several important endeavors to promote constitutional futures other than those imposed by the apartheid government.
This biography sets out the contexts of Deneys's forebears, his youth, wartime service, studies in Britain and America, family life, and tenure as vice principal, as well as the context of the times in which he lived.
It is based on extensive archival research, supported by interviews with family members, former colleagues, friends, and journalists.
The picture that emerges is of a man who made a great contribution to the struggle for democracy in South Africa.
And then there is the story of his beard, once described as a potent symbol of his presence and implacable integrity.
About author(s): Graham Dominy is a Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of South Africa.
He studied at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg (BA Hons HDE) at the time that Deneys Schreiner was a major presence on the campus.
He also has an MA from the National University of Ireland, a postgraduate Diploma in Museum Science (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria and he obtained his PhD from the University of London, studying under the renowned Professor Shula Marks.
An archivist, museum and heritage specialist, he worked for many years in archives and museums in Natal before moving to Mpumalanga Province as Director of Arts and Culture in 1996.
Graham was the National Archivist of South Africa for more than ten years and spearheaded President Thabo Mbeki's Timbuktu Manuscripts Project.
His first book, Last Outpost on the Zulu Frontiers: Fort Napier and the British Imperial Garrison, was published by the University of Illinois Press in 2016.
He has also published more than sixty academic and professional articles besides being a weekly columnist for the then Natal Witness for several years.
More recently, he worked as Knowledge Centre and Collections Specialist at The Oman Across Ages Museum in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
He is married to Anne, a lawyer who is also a University of Natal and National University of Ireland graduate.
They have a son, daughter-in-law, and a pride of cats.
| Author(s) | Graham |
|---|---|
| Frontiers | Fort |
University Of Kwazulu Natal Press The man behind the beard: deneys schreiner: a south african liberal life, paperback/graham dominy
