Author : Janet Hodgson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780639957913
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (579 download)
Book Synopsis Zonnebloem College and the Genesis of an African Intelligentsia 1857-1933 by : Janet Hodgson
Download or read book Zonnebloem College and the Genesis of an African Intelligentsia 1857-1933 written by Janet Hodgson and published by . This book was released on 2018-09 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In 1857, at the height of the colonial period, as Britain was advancing its control over southern Africa and absorbing the formerly independent African chiefdoms, the Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray, set up Zonnebloem College on an old wine farm on the outskirts of the city. Working in partnership with the British Governor, Sir George Grey, he enrolled the sons and daughters of leading African chiefs. They received and English, Christian education, the purpose of which was to further the cause of Christianity and 'civilisation' in Africa. This elite educational project, both cultural and political in nature, soon gathered steam. Among the first entrants were Gonya and Emma Sandile, heir and eldest daughter of the Rharhabe chief Sandile; Nathaniel Umhaka, son of the Ndlambe chief Mhala; and George Tlali, son of the great Basotho leader, Moshoeshoe I. Over the years a succession of sons from chiefly dynasties, sometimes spanning several generations, came to Zonnebloem: the Moshoeshoes of Basutoland, the Pilanes of Bechuanaland, the Lewanikas of Barotseland, and the Lobengulas of Matabeleland. After their education at Zonnebloem, students took up careers as catechists, teachers, political secretaries, lawyers, newspaper editors and priests and served their communities with distinction. Their stories, trials and achievements are recounted here, often in their own words. Central to the book is a unique collection of school essays and letters, that forms one of the earliest bodies of writing by Africans in southern Africa. This remarkable work, based on years of research and written with great sympathy, tells the little-known early history of the genesis of an African intelligentsia during the colonial period"--Back cover.