Description
Diederik Johannes Opperman, was one of the best-known Afrikaans poets. He went to school in the towns of Estcourt and Vryheid, and afterwards received an M.A. degree from the University of Natal. He taught at schools in Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg, and became editor of “Die Huisgenoot”. In 1949 he became a lecturer at the University of Cape Town. During this period he completed one of his most important publications – “Digters van Dertig” – in 1953. From 1960 to 1979 he was a professor of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University, where he also served on the editorial board of the publication “Standpunte”. In 1976 he suffered from serious liver cirrhosis; for many months he was in a coma and was expected to die at any moment. Through the care of his wife Marie and doctors he made a remarkable recovery, returning after a year to his professorial duties and publishing one of the most important volumes of verse in Afrikaans in 1979 (Komas uit ‘n bamboesstok), which one the four most important literary prizes in existence at the time. In 1981 he suffered a serious stroke, from which he never recovered. He died in Stellenbosch in 1985.
