BIOGRAPHIES OF NAMIBIAN
PERSONALITIES
in alphabetical order
KLAUS DIERKS
Copyright © 2003-2004 Dr. Klaus Dierks
R - Z
001118
Rabie, Eric Lynton
* 18.08.1896 at Aberdeen, South Africa
---
Eric Lynton Rabie was born on 18.08.1896 at Aberdeen in South Africa. He was
educated at the Marist Brothers, Uitenhage. He served in World War One. He came to Namibia
in 1941. He was a local Director for the Barclays Bank D.C.O. He was active in various
sports bodies.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Louise Marie Rabie, née Rapmund, married 1925-
Father: C.J. Rabie
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001787
Radford, David
*
First entry to Namibia: 1860
---
David Radford was a trader in Angra Pequeña since 1862. He was the first European to
settle there (until the 1880s, when Heinrich Vogelsang "bought" Angra Pequeña
for Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Father:
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:39-40; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001788
Rafalski, Hans
* 20.08.1874 in Germany
+ 24.01.1944 at Berlin, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1914
---
Hans Rafalski was born on 20.08.1874 in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1904 as
non-commissioned Schutztruppe officer. After the German-Namibian War had ended, he became
a police officer in the Lüderitzbucht District. He organised the first diamond police
unit. Later, he headed the police school in Windhoek. He went for holiday to Germany in
1914, and was prevented by World War One from returning to Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Children: Hans-Joachim Rafalski (1909-)
Namibia National Archives Database
001726
Raiff, Wilhelm
* .188? in Germany
+ .194?
First entry to Namibia: 1903
Last departure from Namibia: 1919
---
Wilhelm Raiff came to Namibia in 1903, presumably employed by the Otavi Railway. He served
as Schutztruppe soldier in the German Namibian War of 1904. He established a construction
firm in Grootfontein. In the First World War he was a non-commissioned officer in
Nkurenkuru. In 1916 he was jailed by the South African authorities for the illegal
movement of cattle. He escaped from the Grootfontein prison and lived as an outlaw until
his re-capture in October 1917. He was involved in the escape of Feuerstein and Voswinckel
from the Windhoek prison. He was deported to Germany in 1919. There he was trained as an
architect, and established an office of the "Interessenvertretung ehemaliger
Südwestafrikaner" in Berlin. Later he joined the Nazi Reiter-SA and reached the rank
of Standartenführer. He wrote a book "Kämpfe im Busch" about his Namibian
experiences (published 1935).
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:113-115;
001941
Ramakhutla, Erica
* 18.02.1956 in Namibia
+ 21.04.2003 at Windhoek
---
Erica Ramakhutla was born on 18.02.1956. She was a SWAPO activist and functionary of the
SWAPO Women's Council. She died on 21.04.2003 in Windhoek.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
000408
Range, Paul, Dr.
* .1879 at Berlin, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1906
Last departure from Namibia: 1912
---
Paul Range was born in 1879 at Berlin in Germany. He served as a government geologist in
Namibia from 1906 until 1912, also as a reserve officer. He published extensively on the
geology of the country. Later he was a university teacher in Berlin.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: NAT
Profession: Geologist
RAW DATA: W. Tabel: Erlebnisberichte von Forschern und Jägern aus der Kolonialzeit
Südwestafrikas, in: Afrikanischer Heimatkalender 1976, pp.85-120; Fischer 1935:149, 234,
237;
000250
Rath, Anna (Jnr.)
* 29.03.1851 at Otjimbingwe
---
Anna Rath was born on 29.03.1851 at Otjimbingwe. She was the daughter of Johannes and Anna
Rath. She was taken to the Cape Colony by her parents in the late 1858 or early 1859 to
attend school, thus escaping the marine disaster off Walvis Bay in which Johannes Rath
lost his wife and four children on 01.04.1859. She remained at the Cape and became a
teacher there. She was married to the Reverend J.C. Pauw in 1898.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859)
Father: Johannes Rath (1816-1903)
RAW DATA: RAW DATA: DSAB II:570;
000251
Rath, Hermann
* .1853
+ 01.04.1859 at Walvis Bay
---
Hermann Rath was born in 1853. He was the eldest son of Johannes and Anna Rath. He drowned
together with his mother and three of Johannes Rath's other children on 01.04.1859 when
the ship in which they were returning from the Cape foundered off Walvis Bay.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859)
Father: Johannes Rath (1816-1903)
Namibia National Archives Database
000252
Rath, Johannes
* 31.01.1816 at Vienna, Austria
+ 06.06.1903 at Kuils River, Cape Colony, South Africa
---
Johannes Rath was born on 31.01.1816 at Vienna in Austria. He was a Rhenish Missionary. He
began his career as a weaver, but entered the Rhenish Mission in 1840 and was ordained as
a missionary on 14.08.1844. He travelled together with Heinrich Scheppmann to Cape Town
where he arrived on 19.11.1844. They arrived at Walvis Bay on 04.01.1845. The two
missionaries were the first to use this route to South West Africa. From Walvis Bay they
reached Otjikango (Gross Barmen), where he became an assistant to Carl Hugo Hahn on
09.04.1845. He learnt the Otjiherero language so quickly that he could preach in it by
1847. At the end of 1845 severe droughts caused a shortage of food, but there was no
direct link between Otjikango and Walvis Bay. Rath was asked to go to Walvis Bay via
Windhoek to buy necessities there. He left on 28.01.1846, but there was no way of reaching
Walvis Bay from Windhoek because the Northern Bay Road constructed by Orlam Afrikaner
Chief Jonker Afrikaner was not completed yet (only to be completed by the early 1850s).
Eventually he was forced to travel to Cape Town. Because of difficulties on his journey he
arrived at Otjikango only on 01.12.1846. In 1848 he once again travelled to Cape Town. He
married Anna Jörris of Mettmann near Düsseldorf in Germany, at Walvis Bay on 21.03.1848.
In accordance with the decision of the mission conference at Otjikango in April 1849 Rath
was instructed to establish a mission station between Otjikango and the Atlantic coast. On
09.07.1849 he founded a station at Otjimbingwe on the banks of the Swakop River, on a site
which Rhenish Missionary Heinrich Scheppmann had found suitable in 1845 when seeking a
direct route to Walvis Bay from Otjikango. The Ovaherero Chief Wilhelm Christian Zeraua
promised to settle there and after the first rains in January 1850, the Ovaherero flocked
to Otjimbingwe. There Rath built a simple house of clay bricks and a room (with mere
openings for the door and windows) for services and teaching. Fifty pupils were present on
the first day. After the Orlam Afrikaners under Jonker Afrikaner had attacked Otjimbingwe
at the end of 1852 Rath left for Cape Town in 1853. He returned over land and on his way
worked for seven months in Bethany before reaching Otjimbingwe at the end of 1853. With
Carl Hugo Hahn, the big-game hunter Frederick Joseph Green and George W. Bonfield, Rath
undertook a journey of four months to Ovamboland on 20.05.1857, mainly to extend his
mission work. The journey took the party to Ondonga, where the travellers were forced to
flee for their lives, because of hostilities by the Ondonga community. The two Rhenish
Missionaries got back to Otjimbingwe on 11.09.1857. In October 1858 Rath, accompanied by
his wife and six children, went to Cape Town to arrange the education of the eldest two
and to get his Otjiherero dictionary of 3 900 words printed. On his return journey he was
shipwrecked in Walvis Bay on 01.04.1859, losing his wife and four children in the
disaster. He returned to Otjimbingwe but on 13.06.1861 he left this station and South West
Africa for good. In 1862 he began his long service as a missionary at Sarepta in the Cape
Colony, where he worked until 27.07.1893, when he was succeeded by Rhenish Missionary
Friedrich Eich. On his retirement Rath first went to live at Stellenbosch but after the
marriage of his daughter Anna Rath to the Reverend J.C. Pauw in 1898, he
went to live with his son-in-law at Wellington. While visiting another daughter, Katharina
de Villiers of Kuils Rivier, he died on 06.06.1903 at Kuils River, Cape Colony and
was buried at Sarepta.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859), married 1848-1859
Children: Katharina Rath (married de Villiers)(1849-)
Anna Rath (1851-)
Hermann Rath (1853-1859)
Johannes Jr. Rath (18??-1859)
Marie Rath (18??-1859)
Leopold Rath (1858-1859)
RAW DATA: DSAB II:570-571;
002328
Rath, Katharina
* .1849 at Otjimbingwe
+
---
Katharina Rath was born in 1849 at Otjimbingwe. She was the oldest daughter of Johannes
and Anna Rath. She was taken to the Cape Colony by her parents in the late 1858 or early
1859 to attend school, thus escaping the marine disaster off Walvis Bay in which Johannes
Rath lost his wife and four children on 01.04.1859. She married a Mr. de Villiers and
lived at Kuils River in the Cape Colony in South Africa.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859)
Father: Johannes Rath (1816-1903)
Namibia National Archives Database
000254
Rath, Leopold
* .1858
+ 01.04.1859 at Walvis Bay
---
Leopold Rath was the youngest child of Johannes and Anna Rath. He drowned together with
his mother and three of Johannes Rath's other children when the ship in which they were
returning from the Cape Colony foundered off Walvis Bay.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859)
Father: Johannes Rath (1816-1903)
Namibia National Archives Database
000255
Rath, Marie
*
+ 01.04.1859 at Walvis Bay
---
Marie Rath was one of Johannes and Anna Rath's children who drowned together with his
mother and three of Johannes Rath's other children when the ship in which they were
returning from the Cape Colony foundered off Walvis Bay.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Anna Rath, née Jörris (1822-1859)
Father: Johannes Rath (1816-1903)
Namibia National Archives Database
000029
Ratledge, James Philo
[Ratledge, Jim - ]
* in Canada
+ 20.03.1998 at Somerset West, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1948
---
James Philo Ratledge was born in Canada. He was a senior manager in the Tsumeb Corporation
from 1948-1977. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Tsumeb copper and lead
smelter plants. He was a founder member and first president (from 1969 until 1971) of the
Association of Mining Companies of South West Africa. On his retirement in 1977 he took to
crop farming in the Kombat area. His last years until his death on 20.03.1998 he spent at
Somerset West in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EN
Profession: Engineer
Married to: Marlene
Namibia National Archives Database
000256
Rausch, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm
* 10.07.1832 at Siegburg, Germany
+ .1867
---
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Rausch was born on 10.07.1832 at Siegburg in Germany. He was a
teacher at the school of the Rhenish Missionary Society at Stellenbosch from 1854 to 1866,
whose house at the same time was a hostel for missionary sons who attended the school. In
1866, he joined the Dutch Reformed Church for financial reasons and was stationed at
Victoria West. He was married to Jacoba Hendrika Vos from Stellenbosch on 14.12.1857.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Married to: Jacoba Hendrika Rausch, née Vos, married 1857-
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:33; Strassberger 1969:32; von Rohden 1888:113; Faulenbach;
000207
Rautanen, Friederika (Frieda)
[Kleinschmidt, Friederika - birth name]
* 25.04.1854 at Rehoboth
---
Friederika (Frieda) Rautanen, née Kleinschmidt, was born on 25.04.1854 at Rehoboth. She
was the daughter of Franz Heinrich and Hanna Kleinschmidt. She married the Finnish
Missionary Martti Rautanen on 11.09.1872
---
Gender: f
Married to: Martti Rautanen (1845-1926), married 1872-
Mother: Hanna Kleinschmidt, née Schmelen (1819-1884)
Father: Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt (1812-1864)
RAW DATA: Grönholm 1983:10; Tabler 1972:90; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:20; Faulenbach;
000257
Rautanen, Martti
[Nakambale - Ovambo name]
* 10.11.1845 at Novasolka, Finland
+ 19.10.1926 at Olukonda
---
Martti Rautanen was born on 10.11.1845 at Novasolka in Finland. He was a missionary of the
Finnish Missionary Society and translator of the Bible into Oshindonga. He completed his
training at the mission school in Helsingfors (Helsinki) in 1867. He came to Namibia via
the Cape Colony (arrival in Cape Town: 30.12.1868) with the missionaries Botolf Bernhard
Björklund, Karl August Weikkolin, P. Kurvinen, K.L. Tolonen and four lay brothers on
14.02.1869. Having been taught Otjiherero by Rhenish missionaries under Carl Hugo Hahn at
Otjimbingwe, they resumed their journey, arriving in Ovamboland on 08.07.1870. There
Rautanen and three others began to work in the Uukwambi area. Rautanen soon left to work
alone among the Ongandjera community, where he founded a mission station called Rehoboth
(Okahao), named after the existing Rhenish mission station Rehoboth south of Windhoek. He
married Friederika (Frieda) Kleinschmidt on 11.09.1872, daughter of the Rhenish Missionary
qt Rehoboth (in the south), Heinrich Kleinschmidt. As his wife was German speaking,
Rautanen spoke German at home. Due to the anti-missionary attitudes of the Ongandjera King
Tsheya tsUutshona (1862-1878) and the Uukwambi King Nuyoma (1863-1875), the Finnish
Missionary Society evacuated the mission stations in the Uukwambi and Ongandjera areas in
1873. Thereafter Rautanen worked in Omandonga, the capital of the Ondonga area until 1880.
From there he moved to Olukonda, where he spent the rest of his life. Rautanen became the
counsellor, missionary and personal physician of several successive Ondonga kings:
Kambonde kaNankwaya (1874-1883), Iitana yaNekwiyu (1883-1884) and Kambonde kaMpingana
(1884-1909). In 1882 he became the head of the Finnish missionary work in Ovamboland. His
Ovambo name was Nakambale ("He who carries the (tobacco) basket"). His most
important work was the translation of the Bible into Oshindonga. His translation of
Matthew was published in 1891, then followed Mark (1892), Luke (1895), John (1896) and the
Acts (1897). The complete New Testament was published in 1908. The whole Bible was
available in Oshindonga in 1924. Rautanen also contributed considerably to a mission
journal, Osondaha, which had appeared in Oshindonga since September 1901. In recognition
of his achievements he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology by the University of
Helsinki in 1925. He died at Olukonda on 19.10.1926. The Rautanens had two sons and three
daughters. Trained as missionaries, the elder son, Karl Christian Reinhold, and the second
eldest daughter, Emelia Johanna, returned to Ovamboland, while the eldest daughter, Anna
Mathilda Rautanen, married Hermann Tönjes, a Rhenish Missionary in the Uukwanyama area of
Ovamboland, who later became commissioner at Lüderitz.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Friederika Rautanen, née Kleinschmidt (1854-), married 1872
RAW DATA: Tabler 1972:90; Grönholm 1983:10; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:16; v.Schumann;
Drechsler 1966:110, 343; DSAB I:665-666;
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks (Rautanen's Grave at Olukonda)
000751
Rautenberg, Hulda Anna Charlotte
* 12.10.1911 at Bergedorf, Germany
+ 18.06.2002 at Flintbek bei Kiel, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1935
Last departure from Namibia: 1961
---
Local historian who published a history of Swakopmund.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI
Namibia National Archives Database
001670
Raven, Alfred von
* 13.09.1877
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:86, 178;
001104
Reddy, Enuga Sreenivasulu
* .1924 in India
---
Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy became interested in the struggles of the Indian and African
congresses in South Africa while a student at the University of Madras (now: Chennai) in
India. Arriving in New York for further studies in 1946, he met the South African people's
delegation led by A.B. Xuma, and since then was actively involved in supporting their
struggle. He joined the United Nations Secretariat in 1949 und dealt with South Africa and
also with Namibia for most of the 35 years he served as a UN official. From 1963 to 1984,
he was the official in charge of action against Apartheid, as principal secretary of the
Special Committee against Apartheid and later Director of the Centre against Apartheid. He
was Assistant Secretary-General of the UN from 1983 to 1985.
---
Gender: m
Field o f activity: POL
Father:
Collections/Papers:
1). Yale University
2). Nehru Memorial Museum
3). Witwatersrand University Library
4). University of Durban-Westville Library
001789
Redecker, Gottlieb
* 30.04.1871 at Otjimbingwe
+ 21.01.1945 at Gütersloh, Germany
Last departure from Namibia: 1921
---
Gottlieb Redecker was born on 30.04.1871 at Otjimbingwe. He was sent to Germany in 1882,
where he graduated from secondary school and studied civil engineering. He returned in
1896 to construct a wagon factory for the Hälbich family in Otjimbingwe. He went again to
Germany, married Marie Kornfeld and was sent to Namibia again as government construction
engineer (Regierungsbaumeister) in 1899. Redecker built the Christuskirche in Windhoek and
the government offices (Tintenpalast). He returned to Germany in 1921 and worked in a
government office for war damage compensation. He retired in 1931, lived in Berlin and
died in Gütersloh on 21.01.1945 in an air raid during World War Two.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Marie Redecker, née Kornfeld, married 1898
Mother: Lina Redecker, née Gronemeyer (-1882)
Father: Johann Wilhelm Redecker (1836-1911)
RAW DATA: AHK 1978:21-25;
000258
Redecker, Johann Wilhelm
* 29.09.1836 at Jöllenbeck, Germany
+ 27.01.1911 at Otjimbingwe
First entry to Namibia: 1867
---
Johann Wilhelm Redecker was born on 29.09.1836 at Jöllenbeck in Germany. He was a trader
and settler who landed at Walvis Bay on 15.05.1867 as one of Rhenish Missionary Carl Hugo
Hahn's mission colonists. When the mission colony was dissolved in 1874, he started his
own business, and had a store at Otjimbingwe during the 1870s. He was married twice: to
Lina Gronemeyer from Gütersloh on 31.03.1869, and in 1885 again to Anna Maria Husemann.
In all, he had eight children, one of them being the well-known architect Gottlieb
Redecker. He died on 27.01.1911 at Otjimbingwe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
Married to: <1>Lina Redecker, née Gronemeyer (-1882), married 1869-18822
<2>Anna Maria Redecker, née Husemann (1885)
Children: Gottlieb Redecker (1871-1945)
RAW DATA: Tabler 1972:91; von Schumann 1986:3; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:47; Mossolow 1978:21;
Lau 1989b:191; Drechsler 1966:60, 334;
000259
Redecker, Lina
[Gronemeyer, Lina - birth name]
* at Gütersloh, Germany
+ 02.02.1882
---
First wife of Johann Wilhelm Redecker.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Johann Wilhelm Redecker (1836-1911)
Children: Gottlieb Redecker (1871-1945)
Namibia National Archives Database
002314
Reeh, Günther
* 07.04.1926 at Lautzenbrücken in Germany
+
First entry to Namibia: 1952
Last departure from Namibia: 1971
---
Günther Reeh was born in Lautzenbrücken (Westerwald) in Germany on 07.04.1926. From
April 1939 onwards he received his schooling in some of the "Adolf Hitler
schools" (Krössinsee and Sonthofen in Germany). After World War Two he
decided to become a missionary in the Rhenish Missionary Society in Wuppertal. After his
training he went to Namibia in September 1952. He started his missionary career in
Okahandja where he met Heinrich Vedder. He worked together with Otto Milk from the
"white" Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Kirche (DELK). Reeh was soon
confronted with the South African Apartheid policy which was, however, condoned by the
majority of German speaking missionaries and clergies. After a short sojourn in Windhoek,
Reeh was transferred to Tsumeb to work in the congregation of the DELK and the Rhenish
Church. 1956 he was transferred back to Windhoek. On 04.10.1957 Rhenish
"black" pastors were opposed to the idea of a Federal Church (as decided during
the Missionary Conference in Okahandja, December 1955) and demanded one single, entirely
united Church, with no division into different population groups, and it should be called
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of SWA (ELC). ELC was constituted at a synod held in
Okahandja. The church was led by Preses Hans Karl Diehl and Günther Reeh (Windhoek),
Hendrik Isaak (Maltahöhe), Andreas Kukuri (he died on 29.12.1966) and Otto Milk
(Okahandja), Daniel Strydom (Rehoboth) and Herrmann Tötemeyer (Keetmanshoop). 1961 Reeh
moved to the Karibib congregation (until 1964 when he moved back to Windhoek, in order to
take over the office of the Secretary of the ELC). On 27.01.1964 Clemence Kapuuo, advisor
to the Ovaherero Chief Hosea Kutako, rejected the South African plan to create Bantustan
according to the Odendaal Plan. The plan was also rejected by the leaders of the two
Lutheran churches: Leonard Auala from the ELOC and Vice Preses Paulus ||Gowaseb and
Secretary-General Günther Reeh from the ELC. In 1965 the All-Africa Lutheran Conference
took place in Addis Ababa. The Namibian delegation consisted of members of the ELOC, Arvo
Eirola and Leonard Auala, as well as members of the ELC, Albert Mouton, Paulus ||Gowaseb,
Joshua Hoebeb and Günther Reeh. On 30.06.1971 Lutheran church leaders Nangolo Leonard
Auala and Paulus ||Gowaseb, supported by Lukas de Vries condemned the contract labour and
the Apartheid system (Open letter of Namibian church leaders to SA Prime Minister Vorster
signed by Auala and ||Gowaseb and allegedly drafted by Günther Reeh)). This protest was
supported by the Roman-Catholic church leaders, Bishop Koppmann from Windhoek and Bishop
Schlotterback from Keetmanshoop. The German Evangelical Lutheran Church (DELK) under Otto
Milk rejected the letter. On 18.08.1971 the church leaders Nangolo Leonard Auala,
supported by Petrus Shipena and Vilho Kaulinge, and Paulus ||Gowaseb, supported by Elifas
Eiseb, Albertus Maasdorp and Günther Reeh, met SA Prime Minister John Vorster in
Windhoek. Vorster tried to defend the South African Apartheid system as a Christian
philosophy. This was rejected by the Namibian church leaders. All these events led to the
South African decision to declare Günther Reeh and his family to "prohibited
immigrants" and a further work permit in Namibia was consequently refused in 1972.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Married: Lieschen Schaberg (01.01.1956-)
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000750
Rehbock, Theodor, Prof. Dr.
* .1864 at Amsterdam, Netherlands
+ .1950
First entry to Namibia: 1896
Last departure from Namibia: 1897
---
Theodor Rehbock was born in 1864 at Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He was a hydraulic
engineer and Professor at the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Karlsruhe.
He was on a consultancy trip to Namibia from 1896 to 1897. He travelled widely, especially
in southern Namibia. Many later dam projects in Namibia can be traced back to his
recommendations, laid down in a substantial published report,
"Deutsch-Südwestafrika, seine wirtschaftliche Erschliessung unter besonderer
Berücksichtigung der Nutzbarmachung des Wassers", 1898. Rehbock was also an
excellent photographer. Among his photographs of Nama people, published in a volume
"Deutsch-Südwestafrika: 96 Lichtdrucke...", are outstanding examples of
sensitive portraiture free from the racist attitude which characterised so much of
contemporary colonial photography. He died in 1950.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Profession: Engineer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000260
Reid, Mr.
*
---
Mr. Reid was a trader who was in the employ of Charles John Andersson in 1852. In 1855, he
was the manager of the Matchless Mine.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
RAW DATA: Lau 1987:103;
001790
Reinecke, Dr.
*
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:169, 353;
000409
Reuning, Ernst, Dr.
*
---
Ernst Reuning was a geologist in the service of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für
Südwestafrika. Later he was a university teacher (Privatdozent) at the University of
Giessen.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: NAT
Profession: Geologist
Namibia National Archives Database
001791
Reiss, Leutnant
[Reis, alternative spelling]
*
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:346;
001792
Rethemeier, A.
* .1905 in Germany
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001793
Rethemeier, Hermann
* .1895 in Germany
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
000592
Rhodes, Cecil John
* 05.07.1853 at Bishop's Stortford, England
+ 26.03.1902 at Muizenberg, South Africa
---
Cecil John Rhodes was born on 05.07.1853 at Bishop's Stortford in England. He was a
pastor's son who came to South Africa for health reasons. A successful diamond miner, he
went into Cape politics by 1880, invested in the newly-discovered South African gold
fields and subsequently amassed a vast personal fortune, becoming one of the most powerful
men on the subcontinent. He died on 26.03.1902 at Muizenberg in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS POL
Namibia National Archives Database
000637
Riarua, Ovaherero Chief
[Amadamap - Nama name]
*
+ 31.05.1899
---
Riarua (Amadamap - Nama name) was Maharero's (Kamaharero) advisor. On 23.08.1880 a
new war between the Nama and Ovaherero broke out, after the battle
of Gurumanas (||Gurumâ!nâs). The Ovaherero leader
Karuvingo and the Nama leader Nu-|narub were both
killed in the skirmish. The Ovaherero escaped to Okahandja where Wilhelm Maharero, the
oldest son of Maharero and Riarua (Nama name "Amadamap"), Maharero's advisor,
received orders to repel the expected Nama attack. On 26.03.1881 Jan Jonker Afrikaner
proposed to Riarua that he should kill Maharero in order to establish peace. Riarua
declined to do this and Jan Jonker escaped to Tsebris and later to the Gamsberg. At the
beginning of 1883, Maharero decided to establish the southern border of Hereroland
himself. He left Okahandja, Otjikango and Otjiseva and moved together with Riarua first to
Windhoek and later to Aris. There he was attacked by the Nama community of the Groot
Doden. The Groot Doden were defeated and dispersed (last descendants live to-day in the
area of Schlip). After the death of Maharero (Kamaharero) in 1890, Samuel Maharero was
recognised by the German authorities as supreme Ovaherero leader on 03.08.1891. This was
not accepted by other Ovaherero leaders, such as Manasse Tyiseseta of Omaruru, Kandji
Tjetjo of Owikokorero and the Ovambanderu leader Kahimemua Nguvauva, as well as Riarua,
Maharero’s former advisor. In April 1894 Chief Kambazembi of the Waterberg attempted
to reconcile Nikodemus Kavikunua and Chief Riarua with Samuel Maharero. He was not
successful. Riarua in alliance with Kandji Tjetjo even raided Samuel’s cattle posts.
However, in June 1894 Theodor Leutwein took Samuel Maharero’s side, stripping Riarua
of all authority during negotiations at Okahandja. On 18.05.1895 Leutwein, Samuel Maharero
and Riarua met the Ovaherero chiefs Kavikunua and Kahimemua at Otjinauanaua. An agreement
was reached which eventually led to the downfall of Nikodemus and Kahimemua in 1896. On
31.05.1899 Riarua (Amadamap) died.
---
Gender: m
Children: Assa Riarua
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000593
Riarua, Asser, Ovaherero Chief
[Riarua, Assa]
* ca.1856
+ .1904 (?) in the Omaheke (?)
---
Asser Riarua was born around 1856. He was the son of Riarua and Nandaura. He was a famous
Ovaherero military leader whose bravery on the battlefield was combined with
highly-respected skills of negotiation and mediation. For instance, on 05.07.1892 Ovaherero and Ovambanderu under the leadership of Assa Riarua, as well as
Nikodemus Kavikunua, Daniel, Barnabas and Justus Kavizeri, attacked Hendrik Witbooi’s
stronghold Hornkranz but were defeated. On their way back to Windhoek, the unsuspecting
Ovaherero were attacked by some German settlers under the command of John Ludwig. Two
Ovaherero were killed, some were wounded and cattle were driven off. This incident was not
followed up by the German authorities, and Samuel Maharero’s faith in the Germans was
badly shaken. He defended himself against the racist attitude of German settlers and, for
instance, reported that he was roughly evicted from a bakery in Windhoek. He participated
in the German Ovaherero War of 1904-1908. He tried to safeguard German settler women and
children. As an example on 14.01.1904, shortly after the outbreak of the war, he allowed
missionary Eich with his small party of German women and children safe passage from
Waterberg to Okahandja, with the approval of Samuel Maharero. Other headmen such as
Michael Tyiseseta, Ouandja and David Kambazembi agreed to the safe passage. After the
Waterberg Battle in August 1904, he assembled with other Ovaherero leaders at Osombo
Onjatu at the Eiseb omuramba, on his way into Bechuanaland. His further fate could
not be established.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Nandaura
Father: Riarua (Amadamap)
RAW DATA: Pool 1991; Heywood et al. 1992; Drechsler 1966:155, 351; Chronology of Namibian
History, 2003 (Dierks);
002082
Ribebe, Angelina Matumbo
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
+
---
In the Kavango, the Shambyu Queen Hompa Angelina Matumbo Ribebe rules since 1989.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000436
Richter, Dr.
*
First entry to Namibia: March 1893
---
Dr. Richter arrived as first professional doctor in German South West Africa in March
1893.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical doctor
RAW DATA: AHK 1982, p.33;
000261
Richter, Albertine
* .1806
+ 14.05.1882 at Wandsbeck, Germany
---
Albertine Richter was the wife of the late Wilhelm Richter, who worked most of his life as
the second in charge of the training institute of the Rhenish Missionary Society.
---
Gender: f
Married to: J. Heinrich Richter (1804-1845)
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1288; Faulenbach;
000281
Richter, J. Heinrich
* 11.12.1799 at Belleben/Mansfeld, Germany
+ 05.04.1847
---
Heinrich J. Richter was born on 11.12.1799 at Belleben/Mansfeld, Germany. He was a teacher
and director of the mission training institute from 1827 until 1847 and then director of
the Rhenish Missionary Society from 1842 until his death on 05.04.1847.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1288; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:8;
000282
Richter, Traugott
*
+ .1880
---
Traugott Richter was a teacher who was sent to the South African Cape Colony by the
Rhenish Missionary Society. It appears that he was already at the Cape before 1877, as he
returned there during that year. In 1880, he was killed in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Namibia National Archives Database
000283
Richter, Wilhelm
* .1804
+ 20.06.1845
---
Wilhelm Richter was born in 1804. He was employed by the Rhenish Missionary Society at the
Mission House from 01.09.1834. He worked for most of his life as the second-in-charge of
the training institute of the Rhenish Missionary Society in Germany. He died on
20.06.1845.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Married to: Albertine Richter (1806-1882)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:137; Lau 1985:V1288; Kriele 1928:86;
000594
Ricketts, Edward
[Rickerts, Edward - alternative spelling]
[Rickets, Edward - alternative spelling]
[Rickett, Edward - alternative spelling]
[Rikkets, Edward - alternative spelling]
*
First entry to Namibia: 1853
---
Edward Ricketts, a "coloured" man, was a trader who was based at Tsub|Garis.
According to William Coates Palgrave, he came to
Namibia around 1853. His purchase of land from Moses Witbooi in 1886 was the only one that
was endorsed by Hendrik Witbooi. He died before 1896.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Ellen Ricketts
RAW DATA: NAN BKE 354 SPS.13; Quellen 17:16.7.1886, 13.1.1887; Bochert 1980:44;
000595
Ricketts, Ellen
[Rieth, Ellen - second married name]
*
---
Ellen Rickets was the wife of Edward Ricketts, a "coloured" man, and apparently
a trader in her own right. A widow, she married the German Unteroffizier Fritz Rieth in
1896. Both the Bethany people and Hendrik Witbooi sold land to her in settlement of debts
between 1894 and 1899 - the farms Ausis and Tsub|Garis (Voigtsgrund). However, under
German colonial law her property belonged to her husband and she was not even entitled to
inherit. Her husband died in 1910, a pauper with nothing but debts. Her further fate was
not traced.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Edward Ricketts
Fritz Rieth (-1910)
RAW DATA: NAN ZBU 1974 U.V.v.2; NAN NLA 107 R.12;
001794
Rickmann, Wilhelm
* .1869 in Germany
+ .1908
---
Veterinarian.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: VET
Profession: Veterinarian
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001795
Riechmann, Heinrich
* 03.06.1859 at Eikel, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1889
---
Heinrich Riechmann was a missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to
Namibia 1889. He was stationed in Franzfontein from 1891-.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Hermine Riechmann, née Gudelius, married 1891-
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:125, 314;
000365
Rihs, Walter, Senior
*
First entry to Namibia: 1988
Last departure from Namibia: 1998
---
The Swiss national Walter Rihs Snr., together with his son Walter, set up fraudulent
businesses in Namibia which were linked to attempts by the Swiss arms dealer Juerg Jacomet
to dump nuclear waste in Namibia. Rihs and his wife were deported from Namibia in 1998.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
000366
Rihs, Walter, Junior
*
+ 25.04.1997
First entry to Namibia: 1988
---
The Swiss national Walter Rihs Jnr., together with his father Walter, set up fraudulent
businesses in Namibia which were linked to attempts by the Swiss arms dealer Juerg Jacomet
to dump nuclear waste in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
002022
Rijkvoet, Carel Christoffel
*
First entry to Namibia: 29.09.1761
Last departure from Namibia: 09.02.1762
---
Carel Christoffel Rijkvoet was a participant of a land expedition from the Cape Colony to
Namibia from July 1761 until April 1762. The expedition consisted of its leader Hendrik
Hop, Surveyor Carel Frederik Brink, Naturalist Johan Andreas Auge, Carel Christoffel
Rijkvoet, scout Jacobus Coetzee and twelve other Cape burghers, as well as 68 Basters.
They crossed the Oranje River on 29.09.1761, visited Warmbad, travelled northwards up to
the Xamob (Löwen) River, and turned back on 09.12.1761. On 09.02.1762, they crossed the
Oranje on their way back.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Surgeon
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:6; Eveleigh pp.92ff; Tabler 1973:58-59;
001796
Riruako, Kuaima, Ovaherero Chief
* 24.04.1935 at Aminuis
---
Kuaima Riruako was born on 24.04.1935 at Aminuis. He is a relative of Hosea Kutako and a
great nephew of Maharero. He went to Standard 6 at the St. Barnabas School at the Old
Location in Windhoek. He received a US High School diploma and and a BA degree (Political
Science and Philosophy) from the New York University in the United States. He was a
founder member of the
National Unity Democratic Organisation (
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: TRA
Married: Contansia Veseevete, three children
RAW DATA: Panorama 85 (1978):19; SWA Annual 1979:157; Namibia Handbook and
Political Who's Who, 1990 (Pütz, Von Egidy and Caplan); Chronology of Namibian History,
2003 (Dierks);
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001121
Rissik, Alec Elias
* 27.11.1906 at Middelburg, South Africa
---
Alec Elias Rissik was born on 27.11.1906 at Middelburg in South Africa. He was educated at
the Middelburg High School. He was an Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public at Keetmanshoop.
He became Senior Partner of Rissik Cox of Keetmanshoop and Karasburg. He was a Director of
Excelsior Holdings (Pty) Ltd and the Chairperson of the Keetmanshoop Ratepayers
Association.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Married to: Violet Maud Rissik, née Harris, married 1936-
Father: Solomon Rissik
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000284
Ritter, Carl Gustav
* 25.04.1824 at Frankfurt, Germany
+ 23.09.1899 at Cape Town, South Africa
---
Carl Gustav Ritter was born on 25.04.1824 at Frankfurt in Germany. He was the treasurer of
the Rhenish Missionary Society who came to South Africa in 1866 and held the position
until 1875. In May 1867, he visited Otjimbingwe and other mission stations in the country
on an inspection tour. Although Ritter was responsible for the financial matters of the
Rhenish Missionary Society in southern Africa, missionary Carl Hugo Hahn felt that he
interfered too much in missionary work itself, and this also contributed to the fact that
Hahn eventually left the Society. He was married to Susanna Johanna Lückhoff, eldest
daughter of the Rhenish Missionary Paulus Daniel Lückhoff, on 03.12.1867. He died on
23.09.1899 at Cape Town.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Married to: Susanna Johanna Ritter, née Lückhoff (1841-), married 1867-
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:45,122; Vedder 1985:499; Diehl 1973:188; v.Schumann;
Faulenbach;
001672
Ritter, Hermann
* 21.08.1873
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:79-80;
000285
Ritter, Susanne Johanna
* 28.02.1841 at Stellenbosch
---
Susanne Johanna Ritter was born on 28.02.1841 at Stellenbosch in South Africa. She was the
second child of Paulus Daniel Lückhoff, a missionary of the Rhenish Mission Society at
Stellenbosch. Married Carl Gustav Ritter on 03.12.1867.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Carl Gustav Ritter (1824-1899), married 1867
Father: Paulus Daniel Lückhoff (1803-1891)
Namibia National Archives Database
001797
Robb
*
---
Trader in Hereroland ca.1890.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:23;
001122
Robbertse, Joseph Jacobus
* 11.04.1925 at Naboomspruit, South Africa
---
Joseph Jacobus Robbertse was born on 11.04.1925 at Naboomspruit in South Africa. He was
educated at the Brixton Primary School and the Parktown Boys High School in Johannesburg.
He joined Nedbank in 1943. He was the Manager of Nedbank in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Banker
Married to: Anne Robbertse, née van Greunen, married 1946-
Father: Joseph Jacobus Robbertse
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001123
Robert, Alun
*
---
Alun Robert was a researcher and writer on Namibia. He specialised on the implementation
of UNCN Decree No. 1 on the Protection of Namibia's natural resources. He worked as
co-researcher for the UK Granada TV documentary "Follow the yellowcake road" and
wrote "The Rössing File".
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000596
Robertson
[Robizoon - alternative spelling]
*
---
A 19th century trader associated with Robert Lewis.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Quellen 6:29.10.1891;
000077
Rodenwoldt, Volker
* 21.05.1919 at Grootfontein
+
---
Volker Rodenwoldt was born on 21.05.1919 in Grootfontein. He received his schooling in
Grootfontein and Windhoek (1938 Abitur). Between 1939 and 1946, during World War Two, he
was interned in Andalusia and Baviaanspoort in South Africa. He returned to Namibia in
1947 and became a businessman. He was the Mayor of Karibib from 1973-19??. He served as
Chairperson of the Deutscher Schulverein Karibib and was a promoter for German language
rights in Namibia. He was a founding member of the Interessengemeinschaft
Deutschsprachiger Südwester (IG).
---
Gender: m
Functions: Mayor - Karibib - 1973-19??
Married to: Irmgard Rodenwoldt, née Meyer
Namibia National Archives Database
001673
Röder, Kurt
* 09.08.1881
+ 19.10.1914 at Naulila, Angola
---
Kurt Röder was born on 09.08.1881. He was a Schutztruppe soldier. He was killed at
Naulila in Angola by Portuguese forces on 19.10.1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:114;
001674
Rogge, Johannes
* 25.08.1865
+ 01.1905 in the Namib Desert
---
Johannes Rogge was born on 25.08.1865. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died of exposure
in the Namib Desert in January 1905.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:220;
001798
Rohden, Ludwig von
[Rhoden - faulty spelling]
* in Germany
---
Fourth mission inspector of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Namibia National Archives Database
001124
Rohrbach, Paul
* 29.06.1869 at Irgen, Latvia
+ .1956 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1903
---
Paul Rohrbach was born on 29.06.1869 at Irgen in Latvia. He was a traveller, theologian,
journalist, writer of travelogues, and German chauvinist political essays. He was sent to
German South-West Africa as Government Commissioner for settlement in 1903. He took part
in the 1904 German Ovaherero War, and was then tasked to chair the commission to determine
damage payments to settlers after the war. He died in 1956 in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: WRI
Profession: Writer
Collections/Papers:
1 (Main part of personal papers apparently lost in World War II)
2). Bundesarchiv Koblenz: Kleine Erwerbungen (Remaining papers, 1915-1954)
3). Bundesarchiv Berlin (Personalakten)
4). Personenarchiv des HWWA (material about R.)
5). Familienarchiv
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I; Dt.Koloniallexikon; Drechsler 1966:17, 11411, 147, 156, 295,
314-315, 325-326, 329, 345, 347-348, 350-352, 354-355;
001799
Roiha, Yrjö
* in Finland
---
Finnish missionary.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001800
Rolfs, Abraham
[Rolf, Abraham - alternative spelling]
*
+ .1909 in Namibia
---
Abraham Rolfs was a subcommander of Jakob Marengo. In December
1908, a Bondelswart unit was established under his command. Rolf resumed the struggle
against German colonialism and undertook several successful raids against German farms in
Namaland. The Germans under the command of Major Baerecke tried to pursue Rolf. At the
beginning of January 1909, faced with overwhelming German superiority (Major Baerecke),
the Bondelswart unit under the command of Abraham Rolf crossed the Oranje River and
withdrew to British-ruled territory. On crossing the border they told a British police
officer that "they would surrender to the Cape Government if they are given
assurances that they would not be extradited. Otherwise they would fight to the
last". During the middle of 1909 and after German-British negotiations, the
Bondelswart unit under the command of Abraham Rolf who had surrendered to the British
authorities in South Africa at the beginning of the year, was turned over to the Germans.
Of the ten Nama, six, including Abraham Rolf, were sentenced to death (they were publicly
executed in Keetmanshoop) while four were condemned to life imprisonment and ordered to be
kept in chains. Additionally, each of the condemned was given 100 lashes with the whip.
However, the four Nama who had been given life sentences managed to escape from jail in
Karibib in December 1909.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:271-272, 360; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001125
Roll, Johannes Richard Gunter
* 04.10.1905 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1931
---
Johannes Richard Gunter Roll was born on 04.10.1905 in Germany. He was educated at the
Realgymnasium Dresden. He came to Namibia in 1931. He was a businessman and Director of
the Hotel Fürstenhof, S.S.A Fibre (Pty) Ltd., Platex (Pty) Ltd., Durwin Estates,
Priflinger & Roll and Spil (Pty) Ltd. He served as President of the Rotary Club, the
Windhoek Chamber of Commerce and served as Chairperson of the Institute of Estate Agents
and Auctioneers SWA Branch.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Margarethe Roll, née Ahrens, married 1935
Father: Richard Roll
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000619
Römer, Ernst
* 07.07.1884 at Biebrich, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1912
---
Ernst Römer was born on 07.07.1884 at Biebrich in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1912. He
served as "Hausvater" of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft in Otjimbingwe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Married to: Rosa Römer, née Huppert, married 1913-
Namibia National Archives Database
000526
Rooman, Abraham
*
---
One of the Witboois who left Gibeon with Hendrik Witbooi in 1884.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Quellen 17;
000597
Rooman, Nikolaas
[|Khobeb - Nama name]
*
---
According to Budack (1972:164), Nikolaas Roman's Nama name was |Khobeb. He married Alwina
Byl or !Oses. Obviously the Roomans were a large and respected Witbooi family, closely
attached to the Rhenish Mission. It seems that they originally came from Berseba. However,
the name has also been traced in Little Namaqualand.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Alwina Rooman, née Byl
RAW DATA: Cape Archives 1/SBK, 1855; Quellen 16:25.11.1868;
000598
Rooman, Ruben
*
---
Ruben Rooman was a church elder at Gibeon, together with Hendrik Witbooi. In 1884 he came
to share the missionaries' condemnation of Hendrik Witbooi and heavily criticised him when
Witbooi finally left Gibeon in 1885. Ruben remained the pillar of Rhenish Missionary
Heinrich Gottlieb Friedrich Rust's efforts among the small remaining congregation, despite
his apparently very unsettled domestic life. When the Gibeon mission station was dissolved
in 1887, Ruben stayed on, in charge of the mission buildings.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Quellen 17:15.3.1883, 22.11.1884, 17.1.1885, 11.11.1887;
001126
Roos, Gendrick Petrus Coetzee
* 04.03.1911 at Kimberley, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1950
---
Gendrick Petrus Coetzee Roos was born on 04.03.1911 at Kimberley in South Africa. He was
educated at the Kimberley High School. He came to Namibia in 1950. He was the Organising
Manager of the African Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (SWA).
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001127
Roos, Johannes Stefanus
* 21.02.1927 at Bloemhof, South Africa
---
Johannes Stefanus Roos was born on 21.02.1927 at Bloemhof in South Africa. He was educated
at the Christiana High School and the Pretoria University. He was a businessman. He served
as Director and General Manager of Barswa Motors and as Director of Barlows SWA Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Elizabeth Margaretha Roos, née Potgieter, married 1952-
Father: Johannes Stefanus Roos
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001801
Roos, T.
*
First entry to Namibia: 1761
Last departure from Namibia: 1762
---
Participant of Hendrik Hop's expedition to Namibia, 1761/62.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001128
Rossouw, Francois Marthinus
* 05.08.1937 at Paarl, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1962
---
Francois Marthinus Rossouw was born on 05.08.1937 at Paarl in South Africa. He was
educated at the Paarl Gymnasium and the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria. He
came to Namibia during 1962 as manager of the Walvis Bay office of E.R. Syfret Co. (until
1968). He was a businessman with interests in various fishing and canning companies.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Rita Rossouw, née van der Merwe, married 1960-
Father: Francois Jacobus Rossouw
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000078
Rother, Friedel
* .1915 at Moshi, Tanzania
+ .2003 at Swakopmund
---
Friedel Rother was born in 1915 in Moshi in Tanzania of German parents. She received her
schooling in Germany. From 1936 to 1939 she was trained as a nurse in Weimar. She served
as a nurse during World War Two and worked in various German hospitals. She was qualified
as a midwife in Göttingen (1949). From 1950 until 1954 she was a midwife in the
Elisabeth-Haus in Windhoek. She returned to Germany. In 1963 she became the head nurse of
the Universitäts-Frauenklinik in Marburg. She served on various international missions.
From 1969 until 1981 she wa the head nurse in the Elisabeth-Haus in Windhoek. In 1981 she
retired in Windhoek. She died 2003 at Swakopmund.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: ME
Profession: Midwife
Namibia National Archives Database
001675
Rothmaler, Werner
* 21.01.1877
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:230-231, 247;
000079
Rotmann, Klaus Wolfgang Gerhard
* 04.10.1945 at Osnabrück, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1950
---
Klaus Wolfgang Gerhard Rotmann was born on 04.10.1945 at Osnabrück in Germany. He came to
Namibia with his parents in 1950. He received his schooling at the Deutsche Schule
Lüderitzbucht. He studied medicine in Pretoria 1964/65. He received from 1966 to 1968
commercial training in Johannesburg. He completed further studies at the University of
South Africa (UNISA) (B.Com.Hons.). Since 1973 he was the Managing Director of the TAURUS
group of companies. He is married to Gisela (née Kiesbauer).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BU
Profession: Businessman
Functions: Managing Director - TAURUS
Married to: Gisela Rotmann, née Kiesbauer
Namibia National Archives Database
002068
Rukonga, Mbukushu Queen
*
+ before 1850
---
In the Kavango, one of the earliest known Mbukushu Queens was Rukonga. She was the seventh
in the recorded genealogy of the Mbukushu kings and queens. She succeeded King Mbungu. No
life dates could be traced so far. Successor was King Diyeve I (before 1850).
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002323
Rukoro, Vekuii Reinhard
* 11.11.1954 at Otjiwarongo
---
Vekuii Reinhard Rukoro was born on 11.11.1954 at Otjiwarongo. He received his primary
schooling at Swakopmund and the Goas Primary School at Karibib. He matriculated at the
Döbra Training College near Windhoek in 1974. He worked as Law Clerk for Lorentz &
Bone Attorneys in Windhoek in 1975/76. Rukoro was a founding president of the Namibia
Black Students Organisation in 1975. He joined the South West
Africa National Union (SWANU) in 1975. He was co-opted as Deputy
Secretary-General of SWANU in the same year. He headed the Adult Education Centre of the
Christian Centre - later the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) - from 1976 until 1978.
From 1978 until 1980 he was the full time Namibia National Front (NNF) Secretary for
Information and Publicity. While in the NNF he travelled widely in Europe and the United
States of America holding talks with, among others, David Owen, Lord Carrington, Cyrus
Vance, Andrew Young, Kurt Waldheim, P.W. Botha and Kenneth Kaunda. He was the SWANU
Secretary-General from 1976 until 1980 when he resigned from this position. He was a
member of the SWANU delegations during the 1978/79 negotiations with the Western Five
Contact Group in New York and Geneva. He left Namibia in 1980 to study law in the United
Kingdom. He received his LL.B. (Hons.) degree from the University of Warwick in the United
Kingdom in 1983. In 1984 he was called to to the Bar of England and Wales. He returned to
Windhoek later that year as Director of the Legal Aid and Community Advice Bureau in
Windhoek and ran the SWANU office until 1986. He was re-elected to the position to
Secretary-General of SWANU in 1984 after the SWANU leadership had split. He was the SWANU
delegate to the 1986 |Ai||gams Conference. He was working on various human rights projects
- including Namibia and South Africa - for the International Rights Law Group in
Washington, DC, in 1987. He was an assistant to the Senior Legal Advisor in the UN Legal
Division in New York in 1987, which was mainly concerned with human rights in Namibia. He
was a lecturer of the Denison University Summer Programme for South African lawyers in the
USA in 1987. He obtained the Utter Barrister's Degree from the Council of Legal Education
and Gray's Inn of Court in London in 1987. He received his LL.M. (International Law and
Human Rights Law) from the Washington College of Law at the American University in
Washington DC in 1987. Rukoro was elected as SWANU President in 1988 and as new NNF
President in 1989. In this position he was elected into the Constituent Assembly in 1989
where he played a leading role in drafting the Constitution for the Republic of Namibia.
He became a Member of the National Assembly in 1990, first for the NNF and later for
SWAPO. He remained in the National Assembly until 20.03.2000 when he returned to private
practice. On 21.03.1990 he was appointed as Deputy Minister for Justice and remained in
this position until 20.03.1995. On 21.03.1995 he was appointed as Namibia's Attorney
General, until 20.03.2000. After 2000 he became the Managing Director for Sanlam Namibia
and Chairman for Air Namibia. He resigned his position as Air
Namibia’s Chairman in July 2004.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL LAW
RAW DATA: Namibia Handbook and Political Who's Who, 1990 (Pütz, Von Egidy and Caplan);
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000398
Rümann, Wilhelm
* .1881
---
Wilhelm Rümann joined the German navy during the 1890s. He served in Namibia in the 4th
field company under Ritter von Epp during the German Namibian War 1904-1905. During World
War I, he commanded a torpedo-boat flotilla and retired as Rear-Admiral. He joined the
Nazi party in 1930, and became the senior manager of the Reichskolonialbund in 1936.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Gann: Rulers;
001129
Rumpf, Wolfgang
* 29.12.1936 at Pirmasens, Germany
---
Wolfgang Rumpf was born on 29.12.1936 at Pirmasens in Germany. He studied forestry. He
received his doctorate in 1964 from the University in München. He was teaching at the
Fachhochschule Rheinland-Pfalz. Since 1980 he was a Member of the German Parliament for
the F.D.P. He was a staunch supporter of the South African attempts for an "internal
solution" in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Kürschners Dt.Bundestag 1983;
001802
Runck
* in Germany
---
Distriktchef of Warmbad, 1907-1910 and of Gobabis, 1913-1915.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001676
Runkel, Hermann
* 19.11.1879
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:138;
002324
Ruppel, Hartmut Friedrich Ernst
* 04.05.1954 at Hannover, Germany
---
Hartmut Friedrich Ernst Ruppel was born on 04.05.1954 at Hannover in Germany. He received
his schooling in Otjiwarongo and Windhoek. He obtained his B.A. and LL.B. from the
University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. He joined the SWAPO Party in the 1970s. After
his law studies he was an attorney with Lorentz and Bone in Windhoek. He was elected into
the Constituent Assembly in 1989 where he played a leading role in drafting the
Constitution for the Republic of Namibia. He was a Member of the National Assembly and
Namibia's Attorney General from 1990 until 1995. He is a Member of the Central Committee
of SWAPO. In 1995 he returned to private practice again and works with Lorentz and Bone in
Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL LAW
RAW DATA: WWSA 1995/96; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001803
Rust, Friedrich (Jnr.)
* 04.05.1883 at Gibeon
+ .1977
---
Friedrich Rust (Jnr.) was born on 04.05.1883 at Gibeon. He was a missionary of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He was sent to Namibia 1912. He was stationed at
Keetmanshoop.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Mother: Agnes Rust, née Sapel
Father: Heinrich Gottlieb Friedrich Rust (1850-1894)
Namibia National Archives Database
000080
Rust, Hans-Joachim, Dr.
* 24.11.1900 at Berlin, Germany
+ 10.08.1987 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1932
---
Hans-Joachim Rust was born on 24.11.1900 at Berlin in Germany. He studied various
disciplines. He was the editor of "Zeitschrift für Geopolitik" and visited
Namibia 1932/33. He was an assistant lecturer at the University Marburg
(Staatswissenschaftliches Seminar). He was then working for the
"Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft für Raumforschung". He had his military service in
World War II, i.a. in the General Staff of German Air Force. He emigrated to Namibia in
1951, worked in the karakul trade and in the Department of Water Affairs, then for 19
years as Secretary of the SWA Scientific Society. He died on 10.08.1987 at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Geographer
Functions: Secretary - SWA Scientific Society - 1960-1987
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Nam.Sci.Soc. 43:7-12(2002):39;
000599
Rust, Heinrich Gottlieb Friedrich (Snr.)
* 23.02.1850 at near Lübbecke, Germany
+ 30.03.1894 at Gochas
---
Heinrich Gottlieb Friedrich Rust (Snr.) was born on 23.02.1850 near Lübbecke in Germany.
He was a missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft at Gibeon from 1879 (succeeding
Rhenish Missionary Olpp) until 1887. After the station was officially abandoned by the RMS
on 20.10.1887, he established a new mission station at Gochas on 30.06.1889, among
!Khara-khoen (Franzman Nama) Captain Simon Koper and his people. He died there five years
later in a fever epidemic on 30.03.1894.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Agnes Rust, née Sapel, married 1881-
Children: Friedrich Rust (1883-)
RAW DATA: Quellen 17: Introduction; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:67;
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001130
Ryan, Terence William
* 31.01.1913 at Pretoria, South Africa
---
Founder (1946) and managing director of Terry's Motors Ltd., Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Diana Ryan, née Thorpe, married 1938-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000034
Rylander, Berit
*
First entry to Namibia: 1990
Last departure from Namibia: 1995
---
Berit Rylander was SIDA programme officer in Angola, from 1985 to 1990, and was in this
position locally responsible for Swedish assistance for SWAPO. In 1990, she came to
Namibia and worked until 1995 as a foreign aid advisor to the National Planning
Commission. She accompanied her husband Sten Rylander, the Swedish Ambassador to Angola
and Namibia, respectively.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: DI
Functions: Programme Officer to Angola - SIDA - 1985-1990
Advisor on Development Cooperation - National Planning Commission - 1990-1995
Married to: Sten Rylander
Namibia National Archives Database
000033
Rylander, Sten
*
First entry to Namibia: 1990
Last departure from Namibia: 1995
---
Sten Rylander served as Swedish Ambassador to Angola from 1985 until 1990, were he was
involved in the negotiation process on Namibian independence and Cuban troop withdrawal.
He then came to Namibia as the first Swedish Ambassador from 1990 to 1995.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: DI
Profession: Diplomat
Functions: Ambassador to Namibia - Sweden - 1990-1995
Married to: Berit Rylander
Namibia National Archives Database
000437
Sachs, Oberpostsekretär
*
+ 16.03.1897 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 04.1895
---
Oberpostsekretär Sachs was the first postal official sent to German SWA. He arrived in
April 1895 and died already on 16.03.1897 in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Postal officer
RAW DATA: AHK 1982, p.33;
001131
Sage, Robert Francis
* 31.05.1931 at Umtata, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1955
---
Robert Francis Sage was born on 31.05.1931 at Umtata in South Africa. He was educated at
the Umtata High School in South Africa, the University of Pretoria and the Wits University
in Johannesburg. He came to Namibia 1955.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Quantity surveyor
Married to: Angelique Sage, née Schiller, married 1955
Father: William Sage
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000975
Sahl, Salomon
[Saal, Salmon]
*
+ .1905 at Stampriet
---
Salomon Sahl was a Witbooi soldier. Sahl was allegedly the one who killed Henning von
Burgsdorff on 04.10.1904. According to legend, he was struck and paralysed by lightning
near Stampriet, and in April 1905 died of thirst near Nanibkobis in the Kalahari.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Zondagh 1991:100f.; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000433
Sakalowsky, Reiter
*
+ 12.04.1893 at Hoornkrans
---
Sakalowsky, a private ("Reiter") in Curt von Francois' "Schutztruppe",
died in the battle of Hoornkrans on 12.04.1893.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Soldier
RAW DATA: AHK 1982:32;
001677
Salzmann, Erich
* 22.07.1876 in Germany
---
Erich Salzmann was born on 22.07.1876 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He took
part in the German Namibia War of 1903-1908. His book "Im Kampfe gegen die
Herero" is an interesting primary source.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:260;
001065
Samaria, Theresia
*
---
Theresia Samaria served as Mayor of Walvis Bay from 2000 (?) to 2003. In 2003, she was
appointed Ambassador to Botswana.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
Functions: Mayor - Walvis Bay - 2000-2003
Ambassador to Botswana - Namibia - 2003-
Namibia National Archives Database
001132
Sander, Edgar
* 04.03.1895 at Leipzig, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1923
---
Edgar Sander was born on 04.03.1895 at Leipzig in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1923. He
was a farmer, exporter of karakul skins, Director of United Building Society for SWA and
Member of the Legislative Assembly (United Party) from 1940-. He was Mayor of Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Father: Albert Sander
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001804
Sander, Immanuel Friedrich Emil
* 01.12.1797 in Germany
+ 28.04.1859 in Germany
---
Immanuel Friedrich Emil Sander was born on 01.12.1797 in Germany. He was a founding member
and first president of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft and served on the Board of
Directors from 1828 until 1854.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Namibia National Archives Database
01133
Sander, Karl Ludwig Gotthard, Dr.
* 09.03.1859 at Antonshof, Posen, Germany (now Poland)
First entry to Namibia: 1893
---
Karl Ludwig Gotthardt Sander was born on 09.03.1859 at Antonshof, Posen in Germany (now
Poland). He was educated at the Gymnasium Lissa. He studied medicine at the universities
of Breslau, Greifswald and Jena. He joined the German Navy in 1882, where he reached the
rank of Stabsarzt. In 1893 he came with Leutwein to Namibia. He was involved in medical
and veterinary research. He took part in the Naukluft campaign against the Witbooi Nama in
1894. From 1896 to 1899 he served as general agent of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft
für Südwestafrika in Namibia. From 1901 to 1902 he was in German East Africa. From 1904
to 1910 he served as Sekretär of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft. Sander published
extensively on colonial matters and tropical medicine.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL MED
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000427
Sander, Wilhelm
* 10.12.1860 at Berlin, Germany
+ 22.11.1930 at Lüderitzbucht
First entry to Namibia: 1901
---
Wilhelm Sander was born on 10.12.1860 in Berlin. He studied at the
"Baugewerbeschule" in Höxter, and worked in Berlin until he moved to Namibia in
1901 under contract with the "Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für
Südwestafrika". He designed many of the landmarks of colonial Namibian architecture,
including the Duwisib Castle, the Orban School, the Gathemann and Erkrath buildings, the
Tintenpalast, the three Windhoek castles and the German Lutheran Church in Keetmanshoop.
He moved to Lüderitz in 1922, where he died on 27.11.1930.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ARC
Profession: Architect
Married to: Paola Sander, née Eck (-1910)
Elsa Sander, née Fröbel, married 1921
RAW DATA: N. Mossolow in AHK 1979, pp.121-129;
001805
Saul
*
+ 02.11.1904 at Ombakaha
---
Ovaherero noble from Otjenga. He was murdered by German troops on 02.11.1904 near Ombakaha
while negotiating with the Germans.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:188;
001134
Saunders, Christopher, Prof.
*
---
Christopher Saunders studied history at the Oxford University (BA and D.Phil.) in the
United Kingdom. He was a Professor of History at the University of Cape Town, with a
special interest in Namibian history.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: HIS
Namibia National Archives Database
001806
Savola, Albin
* in Finland
---
Finnish missionary.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001807
Schaar
* in Germany
+ .1900
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001808
Schaible, Johannes
* 02.09.1873 in USA
First entry to Namibia: 1903
Last departure from Namibia: 1921
---
Johannes Schaible was born on 02.09.1873 in the USA. He was a missionary of the Rheinische
Missionsgesellschaft. He was sent to Namibia in 1903 and was stationed in Walvis Bay. He
left the mission in 1921.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Maria Schaible, née Böhm, married 1904-
Namibia National Archives Database
001809
Schantz, Märta von
*
First entry to Namibia: 195?
Last departure from Namibia: 1983
---
Finnish mission teacher in Ovamboland 195?-1983.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: EDU
Namibia National Archives Database
001135
Schanz, Moritz
* 12.12.1853 at Treuen, Germany
---
Moritz Schanz was born on 12.12.1853 at Treuen in Germany. From 1875 until 1890 he was a
merchant in Rio de Janeiro. He was subsequently active in various German colonial
organisations, in particular promoting the growing of cotton in German colonies. No visit
to Namibia is on record.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000350
Scharlach, Julius, Dr.
* 14.02.1842 at Bodenwerder, Germany
+ 28.03.1908 at Hamburg, Germany
---
Julius Scharlach was born on 14.02.1842 at Bodenwerder in Germany. He studied law in
Heidelberg and Göttingen, and served as an advocate in Hamburg. Julius Scharlach was one
of the few German capitalists who took a business interest in the German colonies,
although of a rather speculatory nature. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
"Hanseatische Land-, Minen- und Handelsgesellschaft für Deutsch-Südwestafrika"
and member of the boards of several other colonial companies, including the "Kaoko-
Land- und Minengesellschaft", the "Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft",
and the "South West Africa Company", as well as a member of the
"Kolonialrat". He was also involved in companies active in Cameroon and China,
and the colonial school (Deutsche Kolonialschule) in Witzenhausen. He apparently never
visited Namibia. He died on 28.03.1908 at Hamburg.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Lawyer Businessman
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; Drechsler 1966:13, 64-65, 315, 334-337, 344;
001810
Schatz, Gustav Adolf
*
---
Gustav Adolf Schatz was employed by the Tsumeb Mine. He was a collector of various
historic and scientific items. His collections formed the basis for the Tsumeb Museum.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Ilse Schatz
RAW DATA: SWA Annual 1979:37-39;
000553
Schatz, Wolfgang
* 09.12.1928
+ 16.03.1987
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Namibia National Archives Database
001679
Schaumburg, Ernst
* 13.11.1880
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:204;
000670
Schauroth, E. von
*
---
E. von Schauroth was the Secretary of the "Deutscher Bund" in the 1920s and
1930s.
---
Gender: m
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.422 (Documents, donated by W. Bertelsmann)
002021
Scheffer, Coenraad
*
First entry to Namibia: 1761
Last departure from Namibia: 1762
---
Coenraad Scheffer was a participant of Hendrik Hop's expedition to Namibia in 1761/62. He
murdered a Nama participant at Ramansdrift in early 1762.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001811
Scheidweiler, P.
*
---
P. Scheidweiler was the agent of the German industrialist Hasenclever. He bought the
mining concession of the Hope Mine in 1883.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:37-38, 67, 106, 132, 144;
001812
Schenk, Dr.
*
---
Geologist, travelled in Namibia 1884 in the employ of Lüderitz.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Geologist
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:89-90;
001813
Schenke
* in Germany
---
Bezirksamtmann of Swakopmund 1910.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
000286
Scheppmann, Heinrich
* 13.09.1818 at Osterkappeln, Germany
+ 29.08.1847 at Rehoboth
First entry to Namibia: 1844
---
Heinrich Scheppmann was born on 13.09.1818 at Osterkappeln near Osnabrück in Germany. He
was trained as a carpenter. He joined the Rhenish Missionary Society in 1842. He was sent
in September 1844 to serve as a lay brother in Damaraland. He travelled together with
Johannes Rath to Cape Town where he arrived on 19.11.1844. They arrived at Walvis Bay in
January 1845. The two missionaries were the first to use this route to South West Africa.
From Walvis Bay they reached Otjikango (Gross Barmen), where Scheppmann became an
assistant to Carl Hugo Hahn on 09.04.1845. At Otjikango he was ordained as a missionary by
Hahn. Hahn instructed him to establish a new mission station at the Atlantic coast near
Walvis Bay. Consequently Scheppmann established a station at Rooibank (Keetmansdorf,
baptised to the honour of the Preses of the Rhenish Missionary Society, Keetman) in
December the same year. He did this under great difficulties and against the resistance of
the traders in Walvis Bay. At the beginning of 1847 he travelled to Rehoboth in order to
witness the consecration of the new Rhenish church there. There he got a fever and died on
29.08.1847. The station Rooibank was later renamed Scheppmannsdorf.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1289; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:25; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000399
Scherbening, Walther
* .1860
+ .1914
---
Served in Namibia as chief of staff in the Schutztruppe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). in private custody (1966)
2). Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg (photocopies of (1): correspondence 1893-1914;
diary of his Namibian time; War diary France 1914)
001814
Scherz, Anneliese
[Fuss-Hippel, Anneliese - birth name]
* in Germany
+ at Hildesheim, Germany
---
Anneliese Scherz was a photographer. She emigrated to Namibia in the 1930s as wife of the
chemist, karakul trader and archaeologist Dr. Ernst Rudolf Scherz. The couple returned to
Germany in 198?, but she died shortly afterwards. She photographed for several
archaeological expeditions, i.a. for the Marshalls. Many of her images gained an iconic
status.
---
Gender: f
Profession: Photographer
Married to: Ernst Rudolf Scherz (1906-1981), married 1938-
Collections/Papers:
1). Basler Afrika Bibliographien
001136
Scherz, Ernst Rudolf, Dr.
* 20.06.1906 at Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
+ .1981 at Hildesheim, Germany
First entry to Namibia: December 1933
---
Ernst Rudolf Scherz was born on 20.06.1906 at Frankfurt/Oder in Germany. He was educated
at the Technische Hochschule Berlin (Dr.-Ing. (Chemistry)). He came to Namibia in December
1933 as anti-Nazi immigrant and worked in the karakul trade. He was the Managing Director
of the Karakul Breeders Association from 1946 to 1963. He was active in the SWA Scientific
Society. He accompanied Abbé Breuil at his Brandberg expeditions, and started himself to
document rock paintings and engravings, since 1963 in the employ of the Institut für
Urgeschichte, Köln. He married Anneliese Fuss-Hippel, an excellent photographer, in 1938.
The couple re-emigrated to Germany in the 1980s and settled in Hildesheim, but died soon
thereafter.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Chemist
Married to: Anneliese Scherz, née Fuss-Hippel, married 1938-1981
Father: Günther Scherz
Collections/Papers:
1). Basler Afrika-Bibliographien
2). NAN: A.397
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
001815
Schick, Adolf
* 24.09.1883 at Bretenholz, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1914
---
Adolf Schick was born on 24.09.1883 at Bretenholz in Germany. He was a missionary of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1914 and was stationed at Omaruru.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Eugenie Schick
Namibia National Archives Database
002326
Schimming-Chase, Nora
* 01.12.1940 at Windhoek (Old Location)
---
Nora Schimming-Chase was born on 01.12.1940 at the Old Location in Windhoek. Her parents
were Otto Ferdinand Schimming and Charlotte Schimming, née Freiser. Despite
the fact that the family was classified "coloured" by the SWA Administration,
they lived amongst those classified as "black". Her home was very multicultural
in that they spoke Otjiherero to one grandmother, Nama/Damara to another and Afrikaans
amongst themselves until they learnt English in the second year of their schooling. The
parents often spoke German between themselves. Nora attended school at the M.H. Greeff
Primary School in Windhoek. Because her classification as "coloured" she was not
able to continue her schooling beyond Standard five (Grade seven) and to visit a high
school in Namibia. Her parents sent her to the Trafalgar School in Cape Town in South
Africa which was one of the most politicised schools in South Africa at the time. She
joined the Cape Peninsula Students' Union in 1955/56 and started her fight against the
oppression of the "coloured" and "black" communities in Namibia and
South Africa. Nora also joined the Society of Young Africans (SOYA) which was the Youth
League of the Non-European Unity Movement in Cape Town. In 1957 she had first contacts
with the Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC). She also belonged to the secret Maoist Yo Chi
Chan movement in Cape Town. Some members of her group were arrested by the South African
authorities and jailed on Robben Island for many years. Nora decided to skip South Africa
and return to Namibia. As from 1959 she was involved with the South West Africa National
Union (SWANU) and OPC's successor party, the Ovamboland People's Organisation (OPO) with
no differentiation between SWANU and OPO. She witnessed the "Old Location
Uprising" of 10.12.1959, the dead and the wounded Namibians during the uprising and
the refusal of the "white" doctors at the hospitals in Windhoek to treat the
wounded and to "go to the United Nations for treatment because these people were
political patients". In 1962 Nora decided to leave Namibia and to go into exile. She
went via South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia to Tanzania. She stayed in Dar-Es-Salaam
and worked at the SWAPO Office for nine months. She obtained a bursary for the Free
University in West-Berlin in Germany. In 1966 she married William Chase (two daughters
were born in West-Berlin). After Chase's work permit was not extended by the German
authorities in 1974, the couple moved to Tanzania where Nora worked in the SWANU Office in
Dar-Es-Salaam. She returned to Namibia in December 1978 under the first Amnesty of the
United Nations and continued to work for SWANU. She was elected the Vice President of
SWANU after her return to Namibia. In 1980, Nora was appointed to the Council of Churches
of Namibia (CCN) as the only female director of Alternative Education. On 24.02.1984 SWANU split into two: SWANU-MPC, with Moses Katjiuongua as leader, and
SWANU-Progressive (SWANU-P), with Vekuii Rukoro as President. SWANU-P emerged as the
"legitimate heir" to the original SWANU constituted in 1959, and adopted an
anti-capitalist position. Its leadership included Nora Schimming-Chase and Gerson Hitjevi
Veii. Due to the fact that SWANU-P worked closely together with SWAPO,
SWANU-P's leadership, including Nora Schimming-Chase,
was arrested under the South African AG (Administrator General) Proclamation No. 28
and branded as "terrorists" under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The implementation of
the UN Security Council Resolution 435 had begun when Nora and her colleges were brought
before a court, but the charges were dropped. During the 1989 elections according to UN SC
Resolution 435 she was called as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Namibia National
Front (NNF) which didn't win a single seat for the Constituent Assembly during the
November 1989 elections. After independence, in 1990, Nora was invited to join the newly
formed Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an Under-Secretary. She opened Namibia's diplomatic
mission in France in 1992 and was called back to Namibia to be assigned to Germany as
Namibia's first Ambassador. She was recalled in 1996 after President Sam Nujoma's State
Visit to Germany and was made Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. In 1998, Nora was seconded as Deputy Commissioner for Namibia to the World EXPO
in Portugal. In 1999 she opted for early retirement and went into politics again, this
time forming the new political party Congress of Democrats (CoD)(March 1999). In the 1999
national elections she was elected into the Third National Assembly and became the Chief
Whip of the CoD.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: The Namibian Weekender: 26.03.2004; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000414
Schinz, Hans, Prof. Dr.
* 06.12.1869 at Zürich, Switzerland
+ .1941 in Switzerland
First entry to Namibia: 1884
Last departure from Namibia: 11.14.1886
---
Hans Schinz was born on 06.12.1869 at Zürich in Switzerland. He attended school in
Zürich and Ouchy. He studied sciences and attained a Ph.-D. in 1893. He travelled in the
Middle East, studied further in Berlin, from where he got contracted by Lüderitz as a
botanist for Lüderitz' scientific expedition to the recently acquired South West Africa.
The expedition landed in Angra Pequeña in late 1884, but Schinz soon left it to travel on
his own account. He travelled straight to Ovamboland, where he stayed from August 1885 to
March 1886, then to Lake Ngami and back to Okahandja. He undertook another travel to
Grootfontein, and on 14.11.1886 he boarded a ship in Walvis Bay to return to Europe. His
book "Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Forschungsreisen durch die deutschen Schutzgebiete
Gross-Nama- und Hereroland, nach dem Kunene, dem Ngami-See und der Kalahari
1884-1887" (1891) made him famous and is not only a scientific geographical
description of Namibia, but also contains much historical information. It is one of the
few early substantial written sources about Ovamboland. After his habilitation in Zürich
he married, and became professor for botany at Zürich University. In 1893, he also took
over the post of director of the Zürich Botanical Garden and Museum, which rose to
international fame under his guidance. After substantial botanical work on Southern
Africa, he concentrated on the Swiss flora. His "Flora der Schweiz" was
published in several volumes 1900-1923. In 1940 he published his personal memories
("Mein Lebenslauf"). He died in 1941. - Botanical collections from Schinz can be
found in the Botanical Museum (Berlin-Dahlem), while his ethnographical collections are at
the Völkerkundemuseum Zürich.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: NAT
Profession: Botanist
Collections/Papers:
1). Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem (Herbarium material)
2). Völkerkundemuseum, Zürich (Ethnographic collections)
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:89-90;
001816
Schlengemann, Allister E.
* in South Africa
---
Afrikaans poet, editor of the newspaper "Suidwes-Afrikaner".
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: WRI JOU
Profession: Writer Journalist
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.449
001817
Schlettwein, Carl
* .1866 in Germany
+ .1940 in Namibia
First entry to Namibia: 1896
---
Carl Schlettwein was born in 1866 in Germany. He came to Namibia 1896 in the employ of the
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für Südwestafrika. He was the manager of an experimental
farm near Spitzkoppe. From 1900, he farmed in the Kaokoveld (Warmquelle near Sesfontein).
He was the author of several books and articles. He died in 1940 in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: , married 1898
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.30 (Correspondence with Kaoko Land- und Minengesellschaft)
2). NAN: A.374
001818
Schluckwerder, G.
* in Germany
---
Trader.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:340;
001819
Schlüter, Ludwig
* in Germany
---
Private (Reiter) in the Schutztruppe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Namibia National Archives Database
001137
Schmeisser, Karl
* 16.10.1855 at Siegen, Germany
+ .1924
---
Karl Schmeisser was born on 16.10.1855 at Siegen in Germany. He travelled to South Africa
in 1893 to study the diamond mining and goldmining in South Africa on behalf of the
Prussian government. In the years 1895/96 he travelled to Australia, Tasmania, New
Zealand and the USA. He was a Member of the Kolonialrat in 1901. Since 1906, he served as
a Berghauptmann and Oberbergamtsdirektor in Breslau. He published several publications on
mining. He died in 1924.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; DSAB IV;
000287
Schmelen, Elisabeth Maria
[Bam, Elisabeth Maria - birth name]
* 03.1807 at Cape Town, South Africa
+ 14.11.1848 at Komaggas, South Africa
---
Elisabeth Maria Schmelen, née Bam was born in March 1807 at Cape Town in South Africa.
She was a sister of Jan Bam and the second wife of Johann Heinrich Schmelen. She died on
14.11.1848 at Komaggas in South Africa.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Johann Heinrich Schmelen
Namibia National Archives Database
000500
Schmelen, Johann Heinrich
* 07.01.1777 at Kassebruch near Bremen, Germany
+ 26.07.1848 at Komaggas, South Africa
---
Johann Heinrich Schmelen was born on 07.01.1777 at Kassebruch near Bremen in Germany. He
was a missionary of the London Missionary Society in South Africa and Namibia. He left for
South Africa in 1811 and married Anna ? from Kookfontein in 1815 (or 1812). They had three
children. On 27.07.1814 he established a mission station in Bethany
(also called *Ui#gandes or Klipfontein), where the Orlam family Boois (also called Frederiks) has
lived since 1804. Jan Boois (or Jan Frederiks), son of Captain Kobus Boois (or Kobus
Frederiks), later became Schmelen’s interpreter. Schmelen reported about the
threatening anti-missionary attitude of Titus Afrikaner of the Orlam Afrikaners. The
Bethany Orlams are also called "Bethany Nama" or "!Aman". Amraal
Lambert (or #Gai*nub), a relative of Jonker Afrikaner from the Kai*khauan (later called "Khauas
Nama"), accompanied Schmelen on many of his journeys. Between 1814 and
1828, he worked for long intervals at or near Klipfontein (today Bethany), assisted by his
Nama-speaking wife. Together they translated the four gospels and the catechism and also
published a dictionary. Schmelen established a mission at Steinkopf in 1818. In 1822 Schmelen left Bethany due to Orlam dissatisfaction with missionary work among the
Kai5khaun (also called
"The Red Nation")(after he "almost begged them upon my knees that they
should come to church but they would not"). He travelled to
Walvis Bay and visited Jonker Afrikaner at Tsebris in 1824/25. In 1827 Schmelen visited the Ovaherero-settlement Okahandja. Carl Hugo Hahn named it
later (09.02.1843) "Schmelenshoop" or "Schmelensverwachting".
Schmelen was probably the first "white" to visit Okahandja. After
Anna's death in 1830, he married Elisabeth Maria Bam, sister of Jan Bam, from Cape Town,
in 1834. Schmelen was instrumental in bringing missionaries of the Rhenish Missionary
Society to South Africa and Namibia. He died on 26.07.1848 at Komaggas in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: <1>Anna Schmelen (-1830), married 1815-1830
<2>Elisabeth Maria Schmelen, née Bam, married 1834-1848
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1290; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:82;
Copyright of Photos Dr. Klaus Dierks (Schmelen's house at Bethany)
001138
Schmerenbeck, Kurt Wilhelm Eduard
* 10.08.1900 at Windhoek
+ .1972 at Windhoek
---
Kurt Wilhelm Eduard Schmerenbeck was born on 10.08.1900 at Windhoek. He was educated at
Göttingen and Herford in Germany. He was a farmer and businessman and director of various
companies. He was a Member of the Karakul Industry Advisory Board and a board member of
Karakul Breeders Association. He was a keen amateur rider. He died in 1972 in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR BUS
Married to: Anna Maria Schmerenbeck, née Bach, married 1928-
Father: August Schmerenbeck
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959; Yearbook KBSSA 15:15;
001321
Schmerenbeck, August
*
---
August Schmerenbeck was a trader in Windhoek. In 1893 he purchased the first private
property in Windhoek from the German administration, and had a house built on it.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: TRA
Profession: Trader
Namibia National Archives Database
000400
Schmidt, Arthur
* .1888
+ .1972
---
Arthur Schmidt was born in 1888. He joined the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika in
1912 as lieutenant. After World War One he served in the Freikorps Eulenburg in Lithuania
and Upper Silesia. From 1920 he served in the Bavarian Police. He was rejoined the
German Army in the 1930s. He was a Lieutenant General in World War Two. He was a Bavarian
Landtag deputy for the right-wing NPD after World War Two. He died in 1972.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Namibia National Archives Database
001820
Schmidt, Karl
* .1885 in Germany
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
000344
Schmidt, Karl
* in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 11.06.1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1908
---
Karl Schmidt was born in Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany. He was an officer in the Prussian
Army. He came to Namibia on 11.06.1904 in the rank of Lieutenant, with the same military
transport as General von Trotha. He fought in several battles in the Namibian-German War
and became district commander of Sesfontein on 01.06.1905, a post which he held until 1908
when a malaria infection forced him to return to Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Mathilde Schmidt, née Lücke
Children: Tilla Gisela Schmidt (married Sydow)(1914-)
Collections/Papers:
1). National Archives of Namibia: Accession ???
RAW DATA: Lived into the 1950s in Germany. Not to be confounded with another Karl Schmidt
who was "Bezirksamtmann" of Keetmanshoop. His daughter Tilla (married Sydow)
emigrated to Namibia in 1951.;
000600
Schmidt, Karl Friedrich Alexander
* 01.05.1862 at Westernkotten near Lippstadt, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 04.09.1895
---
Karl Friedrich Alexander Schmidt was born on 01.05.1862 at Westernkotten near Lippstadt in
Germany. He came to Namibia on 04.09.1895 as customs and excise officer. He was steadily
promoted, until he became Bezirksamtmann in Keetmanshoop in 1904. He left the colonial
service in 1911.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: NAN ZBU B.VI.a.3; Hubatsch; Drechsler 1966L203-204, 315, 356-357, 159;
001821
Schmidt, Max
* in Germany
---
Lutheran military curate (Divisionspfarrer)in the 1904 German-Namibian War.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:315, 351, 358;
001822
Schmidt, Rudolf
* in Germany
---
Pastor, tenth mission director of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Namibia National Archives Database
000336
Schmidt, Sigrid
* .1930 at Berlin, Germany
---
Sigrid Schmidt was born 1930 in Berlin. She studied English and German literature in
Berlin and the USA. She lived in Namibia from 1959 to 1962, with frequent visits to
Namibia thereafter. She collected oral literature in central and southern Namibia. She is
an author of many books and articles on the subject of Khoisan oral literature, religion
and culture.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI
Profession: Ethnologist
Namibia National Archives Database
001823
Schmitz, Carl
* 01.11.1875 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1906
---
Carl Schmitz was born on 01.11.1875 in Germany. He was a missionary of the Rheinische
Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia 1906. He was stationed at Karibib.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Selma Schmidt, née Stock, married 1908-
Namibia National Archives Database
001139
Schnee, Heinrich
* 04.02.1871 at Neuhaldensleben, Germany
+ .1949
---
Heinrich Schnee was born on 04.02.1871 at Neuhaldensleben in Germany. He was the Governor
of German East Africa from 1912 to 1918. After World War One, he was a prominent
protagonist of German colonial ambitions, author and editor of books advocating colonial
revisionism. He was a Member of the German Reichstag for the Deutsche Volkspartei, from
1924 until 1933, thereafter for the NSDAP (Nazi Party). He was the President of the
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft from 1931 to 1933, the President of the Koloniale
Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft, the President of Deutsche Weltwirtschaftliche Gesellschaft from
1931 to 1942 and the President of Bund der Auslands-Deutschen from 1926 until 1933. Has
never been to Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Diary, manuscripts, reports,
correspondence)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I;
000515
Schoedder, Edda
*
+ 07.04.1989 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1958
---
Edda Schoedder emigrated to Namibia in 1958. She became known for her comprehensive survey
of historical buildings in Namibia. The survey is available at the National Archives of
Namibia. She died on 07.04.1989 at Windhoek.
---
Gender: f
Profession: Architect
Namibia National Archives Database
001140
Schoeman, Amy
* in England
---
Amy Schoeman studied at Stellenbosch. She came to Namibia in 1974. She is one of Namibia's
top photographers, specialising in desert landscapes and close-ups.
---
Gender: f
Profession: Photographer
Namibia National Archives Database
001141
Schoeman, Hendrik Petrus
* 26.07.1919 at Oudtshoorn, South Africa
---
Hendrik Petrus Schoeman was born on 26.07.1919 at Oudtshoorn in South Africa. He was
educated in Oudtshoorn, Swakopmund and Stellenbosch. He came to Namibia 1939. He had a
Diploma in radio engineering. He was Director of Schoemans Office Equipment Service and
various other companies. He was a council member of SA Red Cross, SWA Region. He was the
Vice Chairperson of the Windhoek Publicity Association. He was a Windhoek Town Councillor
from 1957 to 1960.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG BUS
Profession: Engineer
Married to: Johanna Carolina Fransina Schoeman, née Erasmus, married 1943-
Father: U. Schoeman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
001142
Schoeman, Johanna Carolina Fransina
[Erasmus, Johanna Carolina Fransina]
* 15.10.19?? at Windhoek
---
Johanna Carolina Fransina Schoeman was educated at Windhoek and Otjiwarongo. She was a
Director of Schoemans Office Equipment Service (Pty) Ltd. and various other companies. She
was a founder president of the SWA Federation of Business Professional Women. She was a
trustee of the South Africa Foundation and University of South Africa (UNISA). She also
served as a board member of the Windhoek Afrikaanse Sakekamer, the SA Association of Arts
(SWA), the Afrikaans Dramatic Society, the Road Safety Council and the Orban School
Committee.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businesswoman
Married to: Hendrik Petrus Schoeman (1919-), married 1943-
Father: Abel Jacobus Erasmus
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
001143
Schoeman, Johannes Cornelius
* 26.09.1924 at Somerset East, South Africa
---
Johannes Cornelius Schoeman was born on 26.09.1924 at Somerset East in South Africa. He
was educated at the University of Pretoria. He was the Chief Medical Officer at the Tsumeb
Corporation Limited (TCL) at Tsumeb.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Married to: Valerie Agnes Margaret Schoeman, née Reid, married 1952-
Father: C.A. Schoeman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001144
Schoeman, Johannes Louw
* 08.02.1936 at East London, South Africa
---
Johannes Louw Schoeman was born on 08.02.1936 at East London in South Africa. He was
educated at the Stellenbosch University as a Lawyer. He came to Namibia in 1958. He was a
Director of the Sarusas Ontwikkelingskorporasie Bpk.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Married to: Maureen Cecile Schoeman, née Corrigan, married 1957-
Father: J.P. Schoeman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000942
Schöne, Hans
* .1920 at Dortmund, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 24.01.1954
---
Han Schöne was born in 1920 at Dortmund in Germany. He was an officer in the German Air
Force in World War Two. He came to Namibia in 1954. He was a hairdresser and established
the "Atlantis Sportclub" in Walvis Bay in 1957.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SPO
Profession: Hairdresser
Married to: Gisela Schöne, née Jacobi
RAW DATA: Plus 5.4.2002;
00288
Schöneberg, Heinrich
* 17.03.1822 at Marienberg, Germany
---
Heinrich Schöneberg was born on 17.03.1822 at Marienberg in Germany. He was a missionary
of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft at Otjikango between 19.01.1851
and 21.11.1853, until he was expelled by Jonker Afrikaner. He moved to the
mission station at Rooibank near Walvis Bay and remained there until 04.06.1855, when he
left the country for Ebenezer in the Cape Colony in South Africa. From 1858 onwards, he
was a preacher in North America. He married Johanne Berner on 01.01.1852. They had at
least two children.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Johanne Schöneberg, née Berner (1823-), married 1852-
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1290; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:30; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000289
Schöneberg, Johanne
[Berner, Johanne - birth name]
* .1823 at Wittstock, Germany
---
Wife of Heinrich Schöneberg.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Heinrich Schöneberg (1822-), married 1852-
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1290; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:30;
000324
Schöneburg, Karl Ernst von
* 08.06.1836 at Waldenburg, Germany
+ 01.12.1908 in Germany
---
Karl Ernst von Schöneburg was born on 08.06.1836 at Waldenburg in Germany. He was a
Prince and a member of the circle who made possible the foundation of the Augustineum,
then known as the National-Prediger-und Katecheten-Institut im Hererolande, with an
initial donation of 2 500 Thaler in 1862, and the promise of a further 1 000 Thaler per
year for the following 10 years. He died on 01.12.1908 in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Helene zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
Namibia National Archives Database
000290
Schreiber, August W.
* 08.11.1839 at Bielefeld, Germany
+ 22.03.1903
---
August W. Schreiber was born on 08.11.1839 at Bielefeld in Germany. He was a teacher at
the Rhenish Mission House from 1865 until 1866, during which period he was also trained as
missionary. He was stationed in Sumatra from 1867 to 1873, when he returned to Germany on
account of his wife's poor health and again took office in the Mission House. He became
Second Inspector of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft in 1884, and was appointed First
Inspector on 27.07.1889 until 1903. He was married twice: to Anna Möller (24.05.1866 to
02.08.1891), with five children, and to Elisabeth Freiin von der Reck (on 17.11.1892). He
died on 22.03.1903.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Functions: Missionsinspektor - Rheinische Mission - 1889-1903
Married to: <1>Anna Schreiber, née Möller, married 1866-1891
<2>Elisabeth Schreiber, née Reck, married 1892-
RAW DATA: Kriele 1928:245,280,285; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:45-46;
001145
Schreve, K.W.
*
---
K.W. Schreve entered the SWA Government Service in 1926. From 1928 to 1934 he was the
Assistant Clerk and from 1937 to 1948 he was the Clerk of the SWA Legislative Assembly.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.22 (Personal papers and documents in connection with Legislative Assembly)
001824
Schröder
* in Germany
---
Trader.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:148;
001825
Schroeder
* in Germany
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:143;
000291
Schröder, Emma Dorothea
* 31.09.1870 at Keetmanshoop
---
Emma Dorothea Schröder was born on 31.09.1870 at Keetmanshoop. She was the fourth child
of Johann Georg Schröder (Jnr.) and his wife Sophie.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel
Father: Johann Georg (Jr.) Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
000292
Schröder, Frieda Henriette
* 28.01.1869 at Keetmanshoop
---
Frieda Henriette Schröder was born on 28.01.1869 at Keetmanshoop. She was the third child
of Johann Georg Schröder (Jr.) and his wife Sophie.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel
Father: Johann Georg jr. Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
000501
Schröder, Gustav
* 26.01.1867 at Keetmanshoop
---
Gustav Schröder was born on 26.01.1867 at Keetmanshoop. He was the second child of Johann
Georg Schröder (Jnr.) and his wife Sophie.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel
Father: Johann Georg jr. Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
001826
Schröder, Hans-Peter
*
---
Hans=Peter Schröder was a medical practitioner in Namibia during the 1930s, who delivered
emergency services by aeroplane.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Namibia National Archives Database
000293
Schröder, Johann Georg (Snr.)
* 03.11.1803 at Haarhausen near Hilchenbach, Germany
+ 25.12.1868 at Pella, South Africa
---
Johann Georg Schröder (Snr.) was born on 03.11.1803 at Haarhausen near Hilchenbach in
Germany. He was a Rhenish mission colonist at Wuppertal (Cape Colony) and Saron between
1833 and 1849 and a catechist in Pella (Cape Colony) from 1849 to 1868. He was married to
Wilhelmine Rüdiger (+ 23.08.1845) on 21.07.1832 and from 19.10.1847 to Sophia Margaretha
Combrink from Worcester. He died on 25.12.1868 at Pella in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: <1>Wilhelmine Schröder, née Rüdiger (-1845), married 1832-1845
<2>Sophia Margaretha Schröder, née Combrink, married 1847-
Children: Johann Georg (Jnr.) Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1290; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:14; Faulenbach;
000294
Schröder, Johann Georg (Jnr.)
* 15.04.1833 at Saron, South Africa
---
Johann Georg (Jnr.) Schröder was born on 15.04.1833 at Saron in South Africa as son of
the Rhenish Missionary Johann Georg Schröder (Snr.) and his wife Wilhelmine. He was
stationed at Berseba from 1863 to 1866. On 14.04.1866 the Rhenish
Missionary Society established a mission station at Keetmanshoop. The station was
financially supported by Johann Keetman, a wealthy German businessman. Johann Georg
Schröder was the first missionary (until 1871). His post at Keetmanshoop was taken over
by Balthasar Dubiel (22.01.1872 to May 1872). From 27.03.1871 Schröder worked among the Nama of Klein Windhoek (until 28.08.1880). On
06.01.1879 the Orlam Afrikaner Jan Jonker Afrikaner sent a petition
(with the assistance of missionary Schröder) to the British Government seeking to protect
the areas of the Orlam Afrikaners. In 1880 Schröder reported that the Ovaherero had moved
so far to the south that Windhoek had become an "island". He worked from 1881
until 1883 in Warmbad and at Komaggas (Cape Colony) from 1883 onwards. In
1895, he left the Rhenish Missionary Society. He married to Sophie Teuffel from Zeitlofs
in Bavaria on 15.03.1864. They had eight children.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel, married 1864
Mother: Wilhelmine Schröder, née Rüdiger (-1845)
Father: Johann Georg Schröder (1803-1868)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40; Faulenbach; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
001146
Schröder, Ludwig
* 29.09.1897 at Wiesbaden, Germany
---
Ludwig Schröder was born on 29.09.1897 at Wiesbaden in Germany. He was an auditor and
director of companies. He served as Mayor of Swakopmund and vice-chairperson of the
Chamber of Commerce Swakopmund.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Erika Schröder, née Brauns
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
000295
Schröder, Luise
* 20.03.1872 at Windhoek
---
Luise Schröder was born on 20.03.1872 at Windhoek. She was the fifth child of Johann
Georg Schröder (Jnr.) and his wife Sophie.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel
Father: Johann Georg (Jnr.) Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
001147
Schröder, Otto Edward Henry
* 12.02.1913 at London, England
---
Otto Edward Henry Schröder was born on 12.02.1913 at London in England. He was educated
at Köln and Hamburg in Germany. He was trained at the Landeskunstschule in Hamburg. He
emigrated to South Africa, later to Namibia, in 1939. He was a much acclaimed Namibian
artist.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
Married to: Lucie Johanne Schröder, née Schroeder, married 1947
Father: E.F.H. Schröder
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000296
Schröder, Sophie
[Teuffel, Sophie - birth name]
*
---
Sophie Schröder was a young woman who came to the Cape from Zeitlofs in Bavaria, on board
of the ship Emma in December 1863. On 15.03.1864, she married Johann Georg Schröder
(Jnr.).
---
Gender: f
Married to: Johann Georg (Jnr.) Schröder (1833-)
Children: Sophie (Jnr.) Schröder (1865-)
Gustav Schröder (1867-)
Frieda Henriette Schröder (1869-)
Emma Dorothea Schröder (1870-)
Luise Schröder (1872-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
000297
Schröder, Sophie, (Jnr.)
* 30.01.1865 at Berseba
---
Sophie Schröder was born on 30.01.1865 at Berseba. she was the eldest child of Johann
Georg Schröder (Jnr.) and his wife Sophie.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Sophie Schröder, née Teuffel
Father: Johann Georg (Jnr.) Schröder (1833-)
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:40;
000343
Schröder-Stranz, Herbert
* 09.06.1884 at Stranz, Westpreussen, Germany (now Poland)
+ .1912 at Spitzbergen, Norway
First entry to Namibia: April 1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1905
---
Herbert Schröder-Stranz was born on 09.07.1884 at Stranz (Westpreussen) in Germany (now
Poland), as the son of wealthy landowners. He entered the Prussian military in 1903 and
volunteered in 1904 for service in the German-Namibian War. He took part in a number of
battles against Ovaherero forces, including the Battle of Ohamakari (Hamakari)(Waterberg)
in August 1904. In 1905, he returned to Germany and wrote a book on his war experiences:
"Süd-West-Kriegs- und Jagdfahrten", published in Berlin, 1910. After extensive
sea travels to northern Europe and the Americas, he led an ill-prepared Arctic expedition
and perished in 1912 on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Soldier
Namibia National Archives Database
001827
Schröer, Hermann
* 22.01.1879 at Bentheim, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1907
---
Hermann Schröer was born on 22.01.1879 at Bentheim in Germany. He was a missionary of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1907. He was stationed at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Ida Schröer, née Kirsch, married 1910-
Namibia National Archives Database
001829
Schult
* in Germany
---
Trader.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:148;
001149
Schulte, Hanna
[Römer, Hanna]
*
+ 03.10.1986 at Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Last departure from Namibia: 1959
---
Hanna Schulte was the daughter of the Rhenish Missionary Ernst Römer. She married
missionary Paul Schulte, who worked among the contract workers at Walvis Bay. The family
returned to Germany in 1959, where they lived in Gelsenkirchen where she died on
03.10.1986.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Paul Schulte (-1979), married 1949
Father: Ernst Römer
RAW DATA: Obituary: In die Welt - für die Welt 3/87;
001150
Schulte, Heinrich, Pater
* .1921 at Gelsenkirchen, Germany
+ 18.12.1988 at Oshikuku
First entry to Namibia: 1952
---
Heinrich Schulte was born in 1921 at Gelsenkirchen in Germany. He joined the Roman
Catholic OMI order in 1945, and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1951. In December
1952, he was sent to Namibia, where he worked in Oshikuku until his death on 18.12.1988.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
RAW DATA: Obituary: Der Weinberg 3/89;
001830
Schulte, Paul
* .1905 in Germany
---
Missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001151
Schultheiss, Robert Georg
* 13.03.1910 at Windhoek
---
Robert Georg Schultheiss was born on 13.03.1910 at Windhoek. He was educated in Germany
and Switzerland. He was an engineer and architect. He was Director of Kock Schultheiss
(Pty) Ltd., SWA Theaters (Pty) Ltd. and the SWA Tannery (Pty) Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Profession: Engineer
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001831
Schultz-Ewerth, Erich, Dr.
* 08.03.1879 in Germany
---
Erich Schultz-Ewerth was born on 08.03.1879 in Germany. In 1898 he served as District
Judge in German East Africa, from 1901 to 1911 he was Chief Judge in Samoa and from 1912
until 1914 he was the Governor of Samoa. He has never been to Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Namibia National Archives Database
000407
Schultze, Leonhard, Prof. Dr.
[Schultze-Jena, Leonhard]
* 28.05.1872 at Jena, Germany
+ .1955 at Marburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1903
Last departure from Namibia: 1905
---
Leonhard Schultze was born on 28.05.1872 at Jena in Germany. He was a geographer,
zoologist, botanist and ethnographer. He was sent to Namibia in 1903 by the German Foreign
Office with a brief to study the fisheries sector. He travelled in southern Africa,
particularly Namibia, during 1903 and 1905, at times attached to the headquarters of
General v. Trotha. His main work on Namibia, "Aus Namaland und Kalahari" (1907),
is a scientific monograph with very little information about current affairs or the German
Namibian War. 1911 he became a Professor in Kiel, since 1913 at the University of Marburg.
He died at Marburg in 1955.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: NAT
Profession: Zoologist, geographer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; W. Tabel: Erlebnisberichte von Forschern und Jägern aus der
Kolonialzeit Südwestafrikas, in: Afrikanischer Heimatkalender 1976, pp.85-120; DSAB IV;
001680
Schultze-Jena, Hans, Dr.
* 12.12.1874
+ 19.10.1914 at Naulila, Angola
---
Hans Schultze-Jena was born on 12.12.1874. He was a Schutztruppe reserve officer. He was
the Bezirksamtmann of Outjo from 1911 until 1914. He was killed by Portuguese forces
during World War One at Naulila on 19.10.1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Functions: Bezirksamtmann - Outjo - 1911-1914
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:110, 113-114; Hubatsch; DKZtg.1919:124-127;
001152
Schutz, Casparus Gerhardus
* 15.12.1891 at Somerset East, South Africa
---
Casparus Gerhardus Schutz was born on 15.12.1891 at Somerset East in South Africa. He was
educated at Uitenhage. He was the Chief Agent in the Standard Bank SWA, later Import
Controller for SWA.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Marie Magdalene Schutz, née Blomfield, married 1929-
Father: J.P. Schutz
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001828
Schütze, Wilhelm
* .1881 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1910
---
Wilhelm Schütze was born in 1881 in Germany. He emigrated to Namibia in 1910. He
purchased the farm Onduruquea (Omaruru District) in 1911.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN (Letter copy book 1915-1919)
001153
Schuyling van Doorn, Herman Paul Kruger
* 16.05.1900 at Boksburg, South Africa
---
Herman Paul Kruger Schuyling van Doorn was born on 16.05.1900 at Boksburg in South Africa.
He came to Namibia in 1955 (?). He was General Manager of the South West Breweries.
---
Gender: m
Father: Herman Jan Schuyling van Doorn
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000601
Schwabe, Kurd
* 14.11.1866 at Münster, Germany
+ 09.1920 at Berlin, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1893
Last departure from Namibia: 1910
---
Kurd Schwabe was born on 14.11.1866 at Münster in Germany. He was a military officer and
author. He joined the Prussian Army in 1886. He came to Namibia in 1893, as a lieutenant,
to assist von François against Hendrik Witbooi. Subsequently he seems to have played a
role in all campaigns against Witbooi, as well as in the War against the Ovambanderu in
1896. Schwabe left the country in 1897, fought in China during 1900 and 1901 to suppress
the Yihotuan rising ("Boxer rebellion"), and was back in Namibia to fight the
Ovaherero in 1904. He then joined the General Staff in Berlin as an expert on colonial
warfare, resigned in 1908 and began to publish books dealing with his various assignments.
He was very active in colonial organisations, i.a. as a founding member of the
"Kolonialkriegerdank" support organisation for former colonial soldiers. In the
course of an extended Africa trip in 1910 he briefly visited Namibia again. He took up
active service once more during World War One and led a German military mission to
Germany's ally Turkey in the Middle East, where he contracted a hepatitis which led to his
early death in September 1920 in Berlin.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military Officer
Married to: Editha Schwabe, née Fritsch (-1944), married 1902-
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:247; DSAB IV:550; Tabler, in AHK 1975, pp.82-84; Drechsler 1966:17,
316, 325-326, 344, 357, 359, 362; Dt. Koloniallexikon;
001681
Schwandner, Wilhelm
* 03.10.1877
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:205;
001154
Schwarz, Bernhard, Dr.
* 12.08.1844 at Reinsdorf, Germany
+ 04.02.1901 at Wiesbaden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1888
---
Bernhard Schwarz was born on 12.08.1844 at Reinsdorf in Germany. He was a theologian and
explorer. In 1885 he led an expedition in Cameroon, in 1888 he led a gold-seeking
expedition to Namibia, where he also visited Hendrik Witbooi at Hoornkrans. After his
return to Germany he took over a parish in Gefrees (1900) but died soon thereafter on
04.02.1901 at Wiesbaden.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; Drechsler 1966:57, 316;
001155
Schwerdtfeger, Heinz
* 26.03.1922 at Schüttorf, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1951
---
Heinz Schwerdtfeger wa born on 26.03.1922 at Schüttorf in Germany. He came to Namibia in
1951. He was the Marketing Director of Thos. Barlow and Son (SWA), then the General
Manager and Director of Barlows SWA Tractor Co. from 1964 to 1972. He served as
Vice-Chairperson of the SA Institute of Mechanical Engineers SWA Branch and the President
of the Windhoek City Soccer Club from 1969 to 1972.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Elisabeth Charlotte Schwerdtfeger, née Offermann, married 1944-
Father: Johannes Schwerdtfeger
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001832
Schwind, Herwarth von
*
---
Ornithologist.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Ornithologische Arbeitsgruppe 10,no.9/10,p.1;
001833
Sckär, Karl
* 09.04.1873 at Oberreidenbach, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1901
---
Karl Sckär was born on 09.04.1873 at Oberreidenbach in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1901 and first was stationed in
Ovamboland (Omupanda), later serving migrant workers in Lüderitzbucht.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Wilhelmine Sckär, née Kremer, married 1910-
Namibia National Archives Database
001834
Scotland, Alexander Paterson
*
---
Alexander Paterson Scotland worked as an undercover agent for Britain in German South West
Africa. Later he made an intelligence service career and was prominently involved in
preparing the prosecution of Nazi criminals.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001835
Scott, Michael
* in England
---
Michael Scott was an Anglican priest who came to South Africa for health reasons, and got
strongly involved in anti-apartheid struggles and social issues. He travelled to Namibia
to collect evidence, and petitioned the UN on behalf of Namibians.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Namibia National Archives Database
001156
Scott, Michael James
* 08.09.1940 at Edinburgh, Scotland
---
Michael James Scott was born on 08.09.1940 at Edinburgh in Scotland. He came to southern
Africa in 1948. He was educated at Lusaka in Zambia and the University of Cape Town in
South Africa (B.Sc. (Hons.)). He was a Senior Geologist and a Prospector in Rhodesia (now:
Zimbabwe) from 1971 to 1972. He was the Exploration Manager of B. and O. Exploration Co.
(Pty) Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Geologist
Married to: Patricia Helen Somerset Scott, née Southey, married 1966-
Father: John Jacks Scott
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
002099
Sebitwane, Kololo King
*
+ 07.07.1851
---
The Kololo community, a sub-group of the South African Sotho people, attacked under the
leadership of King Sebitwane (?-1851) the areas around the present-day Caprivi Strip in
Namibia. They subjugated the communities of the Fwe (Mafwe) and the Yeyi (Mayeyi) and
destroyed their political and social systems. King Sebitwane established his capital in
Linyanti. From Linyanti they conquered Barotseland in present-day Zambia. Sebitwane who
died on 07.07.1851, shortly after he had met David Livingstone, was followed by by his son
Sekeletu (1851-1863).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001836
Sebulon
*
---
A Witbooi war leader, surrendered to the Germans by the end of 1905.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:222;
001565
Seely, Mary Kathryn, Dr.
[Jensen, Mary Kathryn - birth name]
* in USA
First entry to Namibia: 1967
---
Mary Kathryn Seely, née Jensen, is an American zoologist. She came to Namibia in 1967
with a small group of zoologists of the University of California, and started to work at
the Namib Desert Research Station in Gobabeb in 1968, where she became the Director from
1970 until 1990 and then of the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia thereafter. She was
involved into extensive research and published widely on desert ecology, and general
environmental problems of Namibia.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: SCI
Namibia National Archives Database
002303
Sefeni shaMukuyu, Ovamboland (Uukwanyama) King
*
+ .1862
---
The tenth Uukwanyama King was King Sefeni shaMukuyu. He followed
King Haikukutu yaShinangola (1858-1859). He ruled from 1859 until 1862. In 1859 the sixth
Ondonga King Shipanga shAmukwiita was overthrown by his nephew Shikongo sha Kalulu
(1859-1874), with military assistance from Jonker Afrikaner. Shikongo became the new
Ondonga King and Shipanga had to seek refuge with Uukwanyama King Sefeni shaMukuyu. King
Sefeni died in 1859. His successor was the eleventh Uukwanyama King Mweshipandeka sha
Shaningika (1862-1882).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001837
Seidenfaden, Johannes
* 27.02.1782 at Witzenhausen, Germany
+ 08.05.1863 at Honingklip, Swellendam, South Africa
---
Johannes Seidenfaden was born on 27.02.1782 at Witzenhausen in Germany. He was trained at
Berlin in Germany by Pastor Johannes Jänicke. He was a missionary of the London
Missionary Society. In the company of the brothers Abraham and Christian Albrecht he
arrived in South Africa in January 1805, and the three missionaries left the Cape Colony
en route for Great Namaqualand on 23.05.1805. After spending a short time with Cornelius
Kok at the Kamiesberg they continued their journey. The Albrecht brothers started a
mission station at Warmbad while Seidenfaden worked among the Nama community at
Heirachabis from 1806 to 1808. He returned to the Kamiesberg in 1808 whence he went to
Pella in 1809. Here again he experienced difficulties as the Pella mission station was
destroyed in 1811 by the Orlam Afrikaners under the command of Jager Afrikaner (due to the
usury of European traders, in which Seidenfaden allegedly was involved). In the mean time
the London Missionary Society had decided to establish a new mission station at Suurbraak
(Caledon Institute) to which Seidenfaden was appointed in 1812. The superintendent of the
Society in South Africa, Dr. John Philip, however, was not satisfied with Seidenfaden and
laid a serious charge against him in 1821., but he was finally dismissed only in 1825 and
ordered to leave the station. He was married three times: Maria Elizabeth Schonken
(26.03.1809), Catharina Wilhelmina Richter (01.12.1827 at Swellendam and Susanna F.M. le
Roux (12.12.1829 at Caledon). Seidenfaden had no children. He died on 08.05.1863 at
Honingklip, Swellendam in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married: <1>Maria Elizabeth Schonken (26.03.1809)
<2>Catharina Wilhelmina Richter (01.12.1827)
<3>Susanna F.M. le Roux (12.12.1829)
RAW DATA: DSAB II:646;
001157
Seiner, Franz
* 18.03.1874 at Feldbach, Austria
+ .1929
First entry to Namibia: 1903
Last departure from Namibia: 1912 (?)
---
Franz Seiner was born on 18.03.1874 at Feldbach in Austria. He was a journalist and
geographer. He participated in the South African War as a volunteer on the side of the
Boers, 1900. He returned to his hometown Graz (Austria) and came to Namibia in 1903 to
cure his tuberculosis. Seiner travelled widely in Central Namibia in 1903 and wrote a
journalistic travelogue about his trip after his return to Graz (Bergtouren und
Steppenfahrten im Hererolande, 1904), which is an interesting source on social conditions
just before the 1904 war, although strongly coloured by Pan-Germanic chauvinism. Another
travel to Namibia was allegedly induced by an imminent arrest because of involvement in
nationalist riots in his hometown. From 1905-1906 (before an effective German
administrative presence was established in the area) Seiner travelled extensively through
the Caprivi Strip and adjacent trans-border areas, in 1907 in the Kalahari in Botswana and
Namibia and between 1910 and 1912 in the Omaheke and the Kavango. About these travels he
wrote extensive scientific reports which were published in colonial journals, and
contributed very much to the early cartographic description of the areas in question. He
also had a special interest in anthropological "Bushman" research. In 1912 or
1913 he returned to Europe, was allegedly involved in the short-lived reign of Fürst
Wilhelm zu Wied in Albania (1914), and possibly in the military administration of Albania
under Austria in the First World War. He died in 1929.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Journalist Geographer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: ZBU 1012: J.XIII.b.12 Forschungsreisen Seiners
2). NAN: A.295 (Secondary material: Notes and photocopies of documents used by J.H. Mienie
in writing a biographic article on Seiner in Dictionary of South African Biography)
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; DSAB IV; Drechsler 1966:291, 316;
000399
Seitz, Theodor, Dr.
* 12.09.1863 at Seckenheim, Germany
+ 28.03.1949 at Baden-Baden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1910
---
Theodor Seitz was born on 12.09.1863 at Seckenheim in Germany. He entered the government
service in Baden in 1889 as an Assessor, later as Amtsmann. He joined the Colonial
Department of the German Foreign Office (Kolonialabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes) in
1894. He worked in the colonial administration of Cameroon between 1895 and 1899
(Regierungsrat 1896). Seitz returned to the colonial central administration in 1899 (1900
Legationsrat, 1902 Vortragender Rat, 1905 Geheimer Legationsrat). He was Governor of
Cameroon between 1907 and 1910 and Governor of German SWA between 1910 and 1915. He
became the successor of the Governor for German SWA, Bruno Helmut von Schuckmann on
30.08.1910. On the outbreak of World War One, on 08.08.1914, Seitz
ordered the mobilisation of the Schutztruppe (1 870 men and 3 000 reservists). On the
South African side 60 000 soldiers were mobilised. On 01.05.1915 he shifted the capital of
German South West Africa from Windhoek to Grootfontein. Between 20.05. and 22.05.1915
negotiations for an armistice between SA Prime Minister Botha and Governor Seitz took
place at the farm Giftkuppe near Omaruru. The negotiations failed. On 09.07., after the
surrender of the Germans to the South Africans, Seitz was allowed to stay at Grootfontein
and moved later, until the end of World War One, to a farm in the Khomas Hochland. He
became President of Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft from 1920 until 1930. He died on
28.03.1949 at Baden-Baden in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Gouverneur - Kamerun - 1907-1910
Gouverneur - Deutsch-Südwestafrika - 1910-1915
Präsident - Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft - 1920-1930
Collections/Papers:
1). Apparently lost (Main part of personal papers)
2). Bundesarchiv Koblenz: NL 175 (Diaries 1907-1908 and 1935-1936)
3). Stadtarchiv Mannheim (Personal papers including his work in Africa, 1877-1949)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1.I; Dt.Koloniallexikon; Gann: Rulers; Hubatsch; E.G. Jacob:
Dt.Kolonialpolitik in Dokumenten (Leipzig 1938); Drechsler 1966:17, 316, 325, 366-367;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002100
Sekeletu, Kololo King
*
+ .1863
---
After the death of Kololo King Sebitwane in July 1851, his son Sekeletu followed him on
the throne. After Sekeletu died in Malengalenga in 1863, he was followed by his son
Mbololo (1863-1864). During the reign of Sekeletu the Tawana group of the Tswana people
was subjugated by the Kololo and the Ndebele peoples. Simultaneously some Ovaherero who
were in conflict with the Orlam Afrikaners escaped from Namibia to Bechuanaland and took
up friendly relations with the Kololo.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002104
Sekgoma, Lethsolathebe, Tswana King
*
+ .1890
---
In 1885 a conflict between Lozi King Lewanika and Tswana King Moremi II (1876-1890) was
caused about the control over the Mbukushu community in the eastern Kavango. These
conflicts were further expanded to the Gciriku and Shambyu communities in the Kavango
under Moremi's successor, Tswana King Sekgoma Lethsolathebe (1891-1906). Both kingdoms
fought for influence in present-day Caprivi Strip.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001838
Selbourne, Lord
*
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:239-2411, 246, 259, 362-363;
001158
Semler, Johannes, Dr.
* 05.10.1858 at Hamburg, Germany
---
Johannes Semler was born on 05.10.1858 at Hamburg in Germany. He studied law in Tübingen,
Strasbourg, Berlin and Paris. He was a lawyer in Hamburg. Since 1888 he was a member of
the Hamburg Parliament (Bürgerschaft), since 1900 member of the Reichstag
(Nationalliberale Partei). As a parliamentarian, he took a special interest in colonial
matters and travelled to several colonial, including German South-West Africa. About the
latter trip, he wrote a published report (Meine Beobachtungen in Südwestafrika, 1906).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW POL
Profession: Lawyer Politician
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001682
Semper, Erwin
* 29.01.1872
+ 03.01.1906 at Gross-Nabas
---
Erwin Semper was born on 29.01.1872. He was a Schutztruppe reserve officer. He died in
action on 03.01.1905 against the Witbooi Nama in the battle of Gross-Nabas.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:198;
001839
Sephula
*
---
Pastor of the AMEC in Windhoek 1954.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
RAW DATA: Schlosser 1958:115;
001840
Seydel, Ernst
* .1872 in Germany
---
Distriktchef of Maltahöhe 1909-1914. Published about his Namib expeditions.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Distriktchef - Maltahöhe - 1909-1914
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
002059
Shampapi, Gciriku King
[Hompa traditional title]
*
+ .1944
---
Gciriku King Shampapi (1924-1944) succeeded King Nyangana in 1924. He was the third in the
recorded genealogy of the Gciriku kings. Shampapi died 1944 and was succeeded by Hompa
Shashipapo (1944-1985).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000044
Shaningwa, Ndjaula
*
---
Believed to have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Robben Island in 1968.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
001159
Shar, Ben Nathan
* 29.10.1911 at Swakopmund
---
Ben Nathan Shar was born on 29.10.1911 at Swakopmund. He was a businessman, Managing
Director of Windhoek Universal Motors (Pty) Ltd. and Director of Shar Bros. (Pty) Ltd. He
was also farmer in Keetmanshoop and Karasburg districts, and karakul exporter. He served
as the President of SWA Motor Traders' Association.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Lily Shar, née Shulman, married 1936-
Father: Chaim Shar
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
002060
Shashipapo, Gciriku King
[Hompa traditional title]
*
+ .1985
---
Gciriku King Shashipapo (1944-1985) succeeded King Shampapi in 1944. He was the fourth in
the recorded genealogy of the Gciriku kings. Shashipapo died 1985 and was succeeded by Hompa
Sebastian Kamwanga (1985-1999).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000301
Shaw, Barnabas
* 12.04.1788 at Elloughton, England
+ 21.06.1857 at Mowbray, South Africa
---
Barnabas Shaw was born on 12.04.1788 at Elloughton, Yorkshire in England. He was a
Wesleyan Methodist Missionary, founder of Methodism and of its first mission stations in
southern Africa. He was the son of a small farmer, Thomas Shaw, and his wife, Elizabeth
Best. Shaw joined the Methodist Society and began to preach in 1808. After the customary
probationary period he was ordained a minister in 1814. Offering his services for the
foreign mission field, he was directed to work in Cape Town. Before setting out for South
Africa in December 1815, he took lessons in Dutch in London. Shaw and his wife arrived at
the Cape on 13.04.1816. He was refused permission to preach in Cape Town by the then
Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, and when he met Johann Heinrich Schmelen of the London
Missionary Society in early 1816, he decided to travel with him to identify a suitable
site for mission work, which he founded at Lilyfontein near the Kamiesberg in the northern
Cape Colony as the first Wesleyan mission station. Notable early baptised Christians were
Jacob Links (+ August 1825) and Johannes Jager. Links had become a probationary minister
and, in 1822, an ordained minister of the church. During his stay at Lilyfontein, he both
made and initiated several trips into Bushmanland with a view to establish stations there.
In July 1819 the Rev. J. Archbell joined the mission staff as Shaw's assistant.
Accompanied by the Rev. J.J. Kicherer, Shaw visited in 1820 the London Missionary Schmelen
at Bethany in Great Namaqualand. Together they explored the Fish River area in search for
a site for another mission station. The Kai||khaun (Red Nation) Chief Tsawúb Gamab
(1814-1824) welcomed the idea. In furtherance of the idea Shaw, sent Archbell and Links to
consult Tsawúb Gamab and establish a mission station. Bosfontein (to-day Grootfontein
South) was identified as a site, but for many years not realised. In 1825 he agreed to
allow Links, Jager and the Rev. William Threlfall, missionary in
Lily Fountain, to again explore the possibility of opening a mission station
in the Fish River area. Not long after they had left (probably August 1825) they were all
murdered by the San Naughaap north-west of Warmbad,
for the sake of their possessions. Following the killing of
Threlfall and his party, Europeans avoided to travel to Great Namaqualand until the
mid-1830s. In 1826 Shaw left Lilyfontein permanently and settled at Cape
Town in order to start a Methodist missionary service there until 1837. A donation in 1832
by Josiah Nisbett of the Madras Civil Service, made the establishment of a mission station
at Warmbad in Great Namaqualand possible, permanently to head the Methodist mission at the
town. Shaw recommended to the missionary committee in England that the Rev. Edward Boyer
Cook, his assistant, be sent to found the station. The Wesleyan
Missionary Society took over all missionary activities from the London Missionary Society
(until 1840). Consequently on 16.07.1834 Cook (until
09.03.1843) revived the missionary work in Warmbad which was dormant since 1811, the days
of the London Missionary Society and after the Warmbad mission station was destroyed by
the Orlam Afrikaners under Jager and Titus Afrikaner. Cook called Warmbad "Nisbett
Bath" in honour of Josiah Nisbett. He worked there with Peter Links (until 1839). The
Wesleyan Missionary Society called the missionary work in Great Namaqualand which later
expanded to the north (Naosanabis (Leonardville)(1843), Windhoek (1844) and Gobabis
(1845)) the "Damara Mission". In 1838 5Hawoben (Veldskoendragers) began to settle at 5Khauxa!nas. The Wesleyan missionaries Joseph Tindall,
Benjamin Ridsdale and John A. Bailie worked among the 5Hawoben. In 1839 Wesleyan missionary Joseph Tindall (until
April 1842) worked with missionary Cook at Warmbad. Tindall was followed by Benjamin
Ridsdale (01.02.1844-1847) who meticulously described 5Khauxa!nas (or Schans Vlakte which was re-discovered by
Klaus Dierks in 1986). He was followed by missionaries Macleod (from 01.02.1844), John A.
Bailie (1848-1850), Richard Ridgill (1855-1858), John Thomas (1857-1859), J. Priestley
(1859-1864) and Timotheus Sneeue (1863-1864), as well as M. Godman (1864-1866), the last
of the Wesleyan missionaries. Due to financial constraints the Wesleyan Missionary Society
transferred the business of the Damara Mission to the Rhenish Missionary Society in 1866. With
the exception of a six year stay in England from 1837 until 1843, Shaw remained at the
Cape until he died on 21.06.1857 at Mowbray. He was married to Jane Butler in 1814. They
had one son, Rev. Barnabas J. Shaw.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Jane Shaw, née Butler, married 1814
RAW DATA: DSAB I:709-711; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000369
Sheehama, David
*
+ 14.03.1980
---
David Sheehama, a businessman owning several shops in northern Namibia, and father of
reggae singer Ras Sheehama, who was also a philanthropist contributing financially to
church-based community activities. He was murdered at his home in Onakayale, presumably by
Koevoet, on 14.03.1980. In 2000, the former Ombalantu Secondary School was named after
him.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Jacobina Sheehama
Children: Ras Sheehama
RAW DATA: The article is unclear about his SWAPO connection. Find out (from Amutenya?);
001160
Shejavali, Abisai, Dr.
* in Namibia
---
Abisai Shejavali was ordained as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran
Ovambo-Kavango-Church in 1962. He studied in Finland, from 196? until 1966. He was a
lecturer at the Paulinum from 1966 to 1967. He studied in the USA from 1971 to 1978
(doctorate in philosophy and theology, Thomas-Aquinas Institute 1978). He was the
Chairperson of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) from 1983 until 1991.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Functions: Chairman - Council of Churches in Namibia - 1983-1991
Married to: Selma Shejavali
RAW DATA: Berichte aus Namibia 13 (Feb.1983);
00302
Sherman, James
*
---
James Sherman was an American sailor who deserted from a French ship. He worked with
trader Stewardson in the 1840s. In November 1849, he was employed by Carl Hugo Hahn at
Otjikango, where he assisted in the building work.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
002259
Sheya shaAmukwa, Ovamboland (Ongandjera) King
*
+ .1936
---
The twenty-first Ongandjera King was Sheya shaAmukwa (1930-1936).
He followed King Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo (1887-1930). King Sheya shaAmukwa died in
1936. His successor was the 22nd Ongandjera King Tshaanika shIipinge (1936-1948).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000045
Shifidi, Immanuel
* 16.09.1929
+ 30.11.1986 at Windhoek
---
Immanuel Shifidi was born on 16.09.1929. In March 1966, in
Ontamanzi the first SWAPO military training centre named "Ondaadhi
(reconnaissance)" was established. The first trainees were: Immanuel Shifidi, Eliazer
Tuhadeleni (Kaxumba kaNdola), Festus Heita, Johannes Musheko, Paulus Shikolalje, Simeon
Namunganga Hamulemo, Henok Jacob (Malila), Festus Nanjolo, Kornelius Shelungu, Thomas
Haimbodi, Isak Shoome and Festus Muaala. In order to escape discovery by the South
Africans, NAPLA shifted its training camp from Ondaadhi to Uuvudhija in the border area
between the Uukwambi and the Ongandjera areas. The camp was named "Oondjokwe".
After the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe (Otjiherero: Leg of a giraffe) on 26.08.1966 against
the South African Army, Shifidi was tried with other Namibians in the
Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment on Robben Island. He was released in 1986. Shortly after this, on 30.11.1986 a SWAPO meeting in Katutura led to clashes with the South African Police.
Immanuel Shifidi was stabbed and subsequently died. The alleged killers from the South
African 101 Battalion (Johannes Hendrik Vorster, Willem Hendrik Welgemoed, Antoinie
Johannes Botes, Nicolaas Jacobus Prinsloo, Eusebias Christiaan Kashimbi and Steven Festus)
were brought to trial, but on direct intervention from the South African Prime Minister,
P.W. Botha, were released. It must be noted that this crime was allegedly planned at the
South African Defence Headquarter and that senior "white" officers were
involved.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: PO
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/10 (Prison file)
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000046
Shihungileni, Simeon K.
[Shihungeleni, Simeon K. - alternative spelling]
*
---
Simeon K. Shihungileni was charged in mid-1967 under the Terrorism Act, after the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against the South African Army.
He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial between September 1967
and February 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/26 (Prison file)
000047
Shikomba, David
*
---
David Shikomba was the Secretary of the SWAPO Youth League. He was found guilty in March
1974 of contravening the Sabotage Act during a SWAPO meeting in Windhoek, inciting people
to violence. He was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: PO
Functions: Secretary - SWAPO Youth League
Namibia National Archives Database
000054
Shikomba, Gaus
*
---
Gaus Shikomba was found guilty in April 1969 of conspiring to overthrow the SWA
Administration. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/8 (Prison file)
000055
Shikongo, Michael
*
---
Michael Shikongo was charged in February 1977 under the Terrorism Act in the Windhoek
Supreme Court with participating in terrorist activities. He was sentenced in July 1977 to
five years' imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
002270
Shikongo shIipinge, Ovamboland (Uukwaluudhi) King
*
+ .1902
---
The eight Uukwaluudhi King on record was King Shikongo shIipinge.
He followed Uushona uEndjila. He ruled from ca. 1850 until 1902. Against his enemies from
other Ovambo kingdoms he built a thorn fence (three to four metres high and two to three
metres wide) about a 100 km long from Iikokola at the Ongandjera border to the Ombalantu
border. But this fence did not protect the Uukwaluudhi people because it was burnt down by
Ongandjera warriors. On 19.02.1866 the Anglo-Canadian hunter and trader Green reached the
Kunene River from the south after having visited the Uukwaluudhi King Shikongo shIipinge.
The Uukwaluudhi King Shikongo shIipinge died in 1902. His successor was the ninth
Uukwaluudhi King Niilenga yAmukwa (1902-1908).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000299
Shikongo sha Kalulu, Ovamboland (Ondonga) King
* in Namibia
+ 07.11.1874 in Namibia
---
Shikongo sha Kalulu (1859-1874) was the seventh King of Ondonga, son of Nangolo's sister
Nashikoto Shaamutenya. He was a contender to the throne after Nangolo's death in 1857, he
was , however, exiled by the new king, Shipanga. Shikongo, however, went to Windhoek,
enlisted Jonker Afrikaner with the promise of a large booty (he also met Carl Hugo Hahn
then), returned to Ondonga with Afrikaner and a large, well-armed Afrikaner commando, and
drove Shipanga out of Ondonga. Shikongo became the new
Ondonga King (until his death in 1874) and Shipanga
had to seek refuge with Uukwanyama King Sefeni shaMukuyu. Shikongo’s royal court was
at Omandongo (south of Onayena) in the Ondonga area. He later invited Hahn
to visit Ondonga, and established one of the first Finnish mission stations, Oniipa. King Shikongo sha Kalulu died on 07.11.1874. His successor was his nephew, the
eighth Ondonga King Kambonde kaNankwaya (1874-1883).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Functions: King - Ondonga - 1859-1874
Mother: Nashikoto Shaamutenya
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002267
Shikwa shAmupindi (Kayambu), Ovamboland (Uukwaluudhi) King
*
+
---
The fifth Uukwaluudhi King on record was King Shikwa shAmupindi
(Kayambu). He followed King Natshilongo shIikombo. He ruled before 1850. The first seven
Uukwaluudhi kings cannot be dated. His successor was the sixth Uukwaluudhi King Niilenge
ya Shipula.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000056
Shilongo, Julius Israel
*
---
Julius Israel Shilongo was charged in mid-1967 under the Terrorism Act, after the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against the South African Army.
He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967
until February 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/13 (Prison file)
002298
Shimbilinga shaNailambi, Ovamboland (Uukwanyama) King
*
+
---
The fifth Uukwanyama King on record was King Shimbilinga
shaNailambi. He followed King Hautolonde uaNdja. He ruled before 1800. The first seven
Uukwanyama kings cannot be precisely dated. His successor was the sixth Uukwanyama King
Haihambo yaMukwanuli (before 1807).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000062
Shimbuli, Emma
[Shimbuli-Mujoro, Emma - married name]
*
+ 18.03.1995 in Namibia
---
Emma Shimbuli was the first woman who graduated as a theologian in the ELCRN. She was
elected as Mayor of Karibib in 1992 (?) and died on 18.03.1995. She married theologian
Zedekia Mujoro in 19??.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL REL
Profession: Theologian
Functions: Mayor - Karibib
Married to: Zedekia Mujoro
Namibia National Archives Database
000057
Shimuefeleni, David Hamuneme
*
---
David Hamuneme Shimuefeleni was arrested in early 1967, after the
battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against the South African Army. He
was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967
to February 1968. He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/4 (Prison file)
000058
Shimuefeleni, Jonas Shishveni
*
---
Jonas Shishveni Shimuefeleni was arrested in March 1966. He was detained in the Pretoria
Central Prison until charged in Windhoek under the Terrorism Act in February 1969. He was
sentenced in August 1969 to 18 years' imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
002226
Shindongo shaNamutenya gwa Nguti, Ovamboland (Ondonga) King
*
+
---
After the fall of the first Ondonga King Nembulungo lyNgwedha (ca.
1650-1690), his successor is the second Ondonga King Shindongo shaNamutenya gwa Nguti. He
ruled from 1690 until 1700.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001161
Shipanga, Andreas Zack
* 26.10.1931 at Ondangwa
---
Andreas Zack Shipanga was born on 26.10.1931 at Ondangwa. He was trained as a teacher,
worked as migrant labourer in the mining, fishing, and gastronomic sectors. He was a
founding member of the Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC), Ovamboland Peoples Organisation
(OPO), and SWAPO. He went into exile in 1963. He was the SWAPO representative in Kinshasa,
then in Cairo (1964-1969). He was married to an Egyptian (divorced in ??). He was the
SWAPO Secretary for Information and Publicity from 1970 until 1976. After involvement in a
power struggle (so-called Shipanga Rebellion, 1976), he was imprisoned in Zambia and
Tanzania between 1976 and 1978. He was released in March 1978 after foreign intervention.
He returned to Namibia and founded the party "SWAPO-Democrats (SWAPO-D), which
participated in various South African-inspired attempts for an "internal
solution" of the Namibia case. After his crushing defeat in the 1989 elections, and
with failing health, he retired from politics.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Functions: Secretary for Information and Publicity - SWAPO - 1970-1976
President - SWAPO-D - 19??-
Married to: Esmé Shipanga
Namibia National Archives Database
000298
Shipanga shAmukwiita, Ovamboland (Ondonga) King
*
---
Shipanga shAmukwiita, the sixth Ondonga king (1857-1859), was the brother of the fifth
Ondonga king, Nangolo dAmutenya. He succeeded him to the throne after the latter's death
in 1857. He was, however, dethroned and driven away from Ondonga after two years by his
nephew Shikongo sha Kalulu, whom he had exiled, but who managed to enlist the help of
Jonker Afrikaner and Uukwanyama King Mweshipandeka sha Shaningika to help him to the
throne.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Functions: King - Ondonga - 1857-1859
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000059
Shiponeni, Johannes Samuel
*
---
Johannes Samuel Shiponeni was charged in mid-1967 under the Terrorism Act, after the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against the South African Army.
He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial, from September 1967 to
February 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island. He was wounded at
the time of his capture, he received inadequate medical attention. His leg was
subsequently amputated without his prior consent or knowledge.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
000060
Shitilifa, Philemon
*
---
Philemon Shitilifa was arrested in 1966. He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria
Terrorism Trial, from September 1967 to February 1968, after the
battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against the South African Army. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment, reduced to 20 years on appeal, on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/22 (Prison file)
000061
Shityuwete, Joseph Helao
[Shityuvete, Joseph Helao - alternative spelling]
*
---
Joseph Helao Shityuwete was arrested in 1966 and detained without trial for nearly ten
months, after the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on 26.08.1966 against
the South African Army. He was charged in mid-1967 under the Terrorism Act.
He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to
February 1968. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on Robben Island. He wrote an
autobiographic book about his experience.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001841
Shiyagaya, Toivo
* in Namibia
+ 02.1978 in Namibia
---
Toivo Shiyagaya was the health minister of the Ovamboland Bantustan government. He was
assassinated in February 1978.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
Shiyambi, Kassian, Gciriku King
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
---
Gciriku King Kassian Shiyambi succeeded Hompa Kamwanga in 1999. He is the sixth
in the recorded genealogy of the Gciriku kings.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Functions: Hompa - Gciriku Community - 1999-
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002262
Shooya, David, Ovamboland (Uukolonkhadi) King
[Shikati, traditional title]
*
+
---
David Shooya is the current Uukolonkhadi
King, since 1985.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002214
Shufu, Boniface Lutibezi, Yeyi (Mayeyi) Chief
[Shikati, traditional title]
*
+ .
---
Shikati Boniface Lutibezi Shufu is the current Mayeyi Chief, since
1993.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000602
Sichel, Josef
* 01.10.1856 at Kassel, Germany
+ 15.08.1921 on a vessel off Walvis Bay
First entry to Namibia: 1884
---
Josef Sichel was born on 01.10.1856 at Kassel in Germany. He was a merchant who came to
Walvis Bay in 1884. In 1899 he and three others established the large German colonial
merchant house of Mertens and Sichel. He was listed in Witbooi's "Debt Book" as
a creditor, 1888. He died on 15.08.1921 on a vessel off Walvis Bay.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: NAN HRS AB 8; NAN EST 420,170; NAN ADM 297 868/406; Lau 1995:247; Lenssen
1994:9,15,32,35,67;
001842
Sidon
*
---
Sidon was a Undercaptain of the Orlams Afrikaners in the 1890s.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001843
Siebe, Heinrich
* in Germany
---
Heinrich Siebe was a missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft in Hereroland from
1895 to 1899.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001844
Sieber
* in Germany
---
Sieber was a veterinarian and bacteriologist at the Gammams Bacteriological Institute in
Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: VET
Namibia National Archives Database
001845
Siebert, Hauptmann
* in Germany
---
Siebert was a Schutztruppe officer
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:228;
001853
Siebold, Hans
* in Germany
---
Hans Siebold was a pastor (for the "white" German Lutheran congregation) in
Keetmanshoop until 1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Namibia National Archives Database
001847
Siekmann, Friedrich
* 30.09.1879 at Bielefeld, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1907
Last departure from Namibia: 1920
---
Friedrich Siekmann was born on 30.09.1879 at Bielefeld in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1907, was stationed in
Okahandja and left the mission in 1920.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Marta Siekmann, née Garbers, married 1915-
Namibia National Archives Database
001848
Siemsen
* in Germany
---
Siemsen was a trader.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:148;
002064
Sihurera, Mbukushu King
*
+ before 1850
---
In the Kavango, one of the earliest known Mbukushu Kings was Sihurera. He was the third in
the recorded genealogy of the Mbukushu kings. He succeeded King Dinyando. No life dates
could be traced so far. Successor was King Kasimana (before 1850).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002089
Sikongo, Uukwangali King
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
+ .1870
---
In the Kavango, Uukwangali King Sikongo succeeded King Mpepo who was killed in 1833. He
was the seventh in the recorded genealogy of the Uukwangali kings. Sikongo ruled until his
death in 1870. His reign brought peace and stability to the Uukwangali area. Sikongo was
followed by King Mpasi who ruled until 1880.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001849
Silber, Jock
*
---
Jock Silber was a trader in Gobabis
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
Namibia National Archives Database
002111
Simasiku, George, Fwe (Mafwe) King
[Mamili, traditional title]
*
+
---
After the secessionist coup d'etat against the Republic of Namibia in 1998/99, in order to
create an independent state of Caprivi, the Fwe (Mafwe) King Bebi Boniface fled to
Botswana and later to Denmark, where political asylum was granted to him. Bebi was
followed by Mamili George Simasiku (1999-). He is the seventh in the recorded
genealogy of the Mafwe kings.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002105
Simata, Kabenda, Fwe (Mafwe) King
[Mamili, traditional title]
*
+ .1914
---
Lozi King Lewanika appointed the Fwe (Mafwe) Chief Simata Kabende (1864-1914) to
administer the western areas of to-day's Caprivi Strip. He was the first in the recorded
genealogy of the Mafwe kings. Simata got the honourary Lozi title Mamili. Mamili
Simata Kabende ruled the Caprivi Strip with inclusion of the Mafwe, Mayuni, Mayeyi, Totela
and Mbukushu communities under Lozi (also called Luyi people in the Luyana Kingdom)
control, with the capital Linyanti. Since Lewanika's time the Lozi language is spoken in
many parts of the Caprivi Strip, northern Botswana and western Zambia. Mamili
supported German endeavours to incorporate the Caprivi Strip into German SWA, thus
terminating the Lozi rule. In 1902 he assisted the German trader August Geik who reached
the Caprivi Strip from Grootfontein. In May 1909 Simata supported Kurt Streitwolf in order
to create administrative structures in the Caprivi Strip. Simata died in 1914 and was
followed by Mamili Lifasi Simata (1914-1931) who originated from Makalani.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002107
Simata, Lifasi, Fwe (Mafwe) King
[Mamili, traditional title]
* at Makalani
+ .1944
---
After the death of Fwe (Mafwe) King Simata Lifasi in 1931, he was succeeded by Mamili Simata
Lifasi (1931-1944) who originated from Makalani. He was the third in the recorded
genealogy of the Mafwe kings. Simata was followed by Mamili Simasiku Simata
(1944-1971), originating from Chinchimani.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002108
Simata, Simasiku, Fwe (Mafwe) King
[Mamili, traditional title]
* at Chinchimani
+ .1971
---
After the death of Fwe (Mafwe) King Lifasi Simata in 1944, he was succeeded by Mamili Simata
Simasiku (1944-1971) who originated from Chinchimani. He was the fourth in the recorded
genealogy of the Mafwe kings. Simata was followed by Mamili Richard Muhinda
(1971-1987), also originating from Chinchimani.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002180
Simbara, Uukwangali Queen
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
+ 1800
---
In the Kavango, one of the earlier recorded Uukwangali Queens was Simbara (1785-1800). She
was the third in the recorded genealogy of the Uukwangali kings and queens. The successor
of Queen Simbara was Queen Mate II (between 1800 and 1818).
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000035
Simbwaye, Brendan Kongongolu
*
+ at unknown (possibly Opuwo)
---
Brendan Kongongolu Simbwaye was a founder member of the Caprivi African National Union
(CANU) in 1963. He negotiated the merger of CANU with SWAPO. He was an elected
Vice-President of SWAPO in 1964. He was arrested in 1964 after organising a SWAPO meeting.
He was banned first to Warmbad, then to Khorixas. It is reported that he has been charged
with terrorist activities in a secret trial in Pretoria in 1970. He was allowed to return
to Caprivi and disappeared there under unclear circumstances in 1972 at the time of the
visit of UN representative Escher. Allegedly he was killed by the South African security
forces at Opuwo.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Functions: President - CANU
Vice-President - SWAPO
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: BAC ...... (Bantu Affairs file on his banning)
RAW DATA: Prisoners of apartheid 1978;
001162
Simmonds, Reginald Bertram
* 11.02.1922 at South Coast, Natal, South Africa
---
Reginald Bertram Simmonds wa born on 11.02.1922 at the south coast, Natal in South Africa.
He was educated at the Glenwood High School and the Technical College in Durban. He was in
the shipping business since 1937. He underwent military service in World War Two. He came
to Namibia in 1951. He was the branch manager and partner in United Shipping Co. of SWA
(Pty) Ltd. He was married to Irmgard Simmonds, née Hansen in 1951.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Irmgard Simmonds, née Hansen, married 1951-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
001163
Simon, David
* .1957 at Cape Town, South Africa
---
David Simon was born in 1957 in Cape Town. He studied in Cape Town, Reading, and Oxford
(Ph.-D. Oxford). Since 1987, he teaches geography at the University of London. He
researched and published extensively on Namibia, in particular on urbanisation and
development.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Geographer
Namibia National Archives Database
001850
Simon, Jean-Marie
* .1858
+ .1932
---
Jean-Marie Simon was born in 1858. He was the Roman-Catholic Bishop of (Pella/ Keimoes?)
who was responsible for the beginning of Roman Catholic mission work in southern Namibia.
He died in 1932.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Functions: Bishop
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001851
Simon, Otto
* 09.03.1870 at Posen, Germany (now Poland)
First entry to Namibia: 1898
---
Otto Simon was born on 09.03.1870 at Posen in Germany (now Poland). He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He was sent to Namibia in 1898 and was
stationed in Gibeon. He resigned from the mission after serious disagreements in 1903. He
was married to Elisabeth Simon, née Rappard in 1900.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Elisabeth Simon, née Rappard, married 1900-
Namibia National Archives Database
001852
Simpson
*
---
Simpson was the Magistrate of Walvis Bay in ca.1884.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001853
Sinclair, Benjamin
*
---
Benjamin Sinclair closed a mining prospecting agreement with Bethany Captain David
Christian Frederiks (||Naixab) in 1863. In ca. 1868 he was the mine manager at the
Roensberg mine, whose usurpation of judicial functions prompted diplomatic protests of the
Nama captains to the Cape government.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Esterhuyze 1968:15; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001854
Singham, A.W.
*
---
A.W. Singham was a professor of political science at the City University of New York. He
had a special interest in the Non-Aligned Movement and published about Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
002062
Sinyungu, Mbukushu King
*
+ before 1850
---
In the Kavango, the earliest known Mbukushu King was Sinyungu. He was the first in the
recorded genealogy of the Mbukushu kings. No life dates could be traced so far. Successor
was King Dinyando (before 1850).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000303
Sirelius, K.J.G
*
---
K.J.G. Sirelius was a Protestant pastor from Helsingfors in Finland. He later became
director of the Finnish Missionary Society and was instrumental in sending the first
Finnish missionaries to Ovamboland.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Functions: Director - Suomen Lähetysseura
Namibia National Archives Database
002087
Siremo, Uukwangali King
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
+ .1822
---
In the Kavango, Uukwangali King Siremo was the successor of Queen Mate II in 1818.
He was the fifth in the recorded genealogy of the Uukwangali kings. He ruled from 1818
until 1822 when he was killed by his brother Mpepo who attacked the Uukwangali area with
assistance of the Uukwanyama community in Ovamboland. He was followed by King Mpepo
(between 1822 and 1833).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001164
Sivertsen, Norman Erik
* 19.09.1907 at Cape Town, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Norman Erik Sivertsen was born on 19.09.1907 at Cape Town in South Africa. He was educated
at the Rondebosch Boys High School. He came to Namibia in 1936. He underwent military
service in World War Two. He was the chairperson and director of Cloete Kruger (Pty) Ltd.
and partner in Norman Sivertsen Co. He was the Charter President of the Rotary Club SWA
from 1952 to 1954. He was married to Ivy Victoria Sivertsen, née Simpson from 1930 to
1954 and to
Anna Sivertsen, née Marschner in 1956.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: <1>Ivy Victoria Sivertsen, née Simpson (-1954), married 1930-1954
<2>Anna Sivertsen, née Marschner, married 1956-
Father: S.C. Sivertsen
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
002096
Sivute, Uukwangali King
[Hompa, traditional title]
*
+ .1958
---
In the Kavango, Uukwangali Queen Kanuni was deposed by the South African Native
Commissioner, Harold Eedes and sent into exile to Angola in 1941. Eedes appointed Hompa
Sivute to rule the Uukwangali area until his death in 1958. He was the fourteenth in the
recorded genealogy of the Uukwangali kings. 1958 Queen Kanuni returned to Namibia and
ruled until her death in 1971.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000603
Slingen, Paul
*
---
Paul Slingen was a member of the Kai||khaun or Red Nation. He was a member of the Gibeon
congregation by the 1880s.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000973
Smit, Hendrik Jakobus Daniel
* 30.11.1860
+ 10.10.1904 at Swartmodder
---
Hendrik Jakobus Daniel Smit was born on 30.11.1860. He was a Boer who trekked with a small
group of followers in the 1890s from Piketberg, South Africa, to Namibia. He bought the
farm Horanaub (later called Swartmodder) from Hendrik Witbooi on 27.11.1899. He had a high
standing in the local Boer community and was also apparently on a good footing with
Hendrik Witbooi, who allegedly warned him of the Nama uprising in 1904. Nevertheless Smit
was killed with several other Boers at Swartmodder by Witbooi-Nama on 10.10.1904.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: Hannie Smit, née van der Westhuizen (-1951)
Children: Dirk Smit (1902-)
RAW DATA: Zondagh 1991:91,111ff.;
000064
Smuts, David
* 17.11.1954 in South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1972
---
David Smuts was born on 17.11.1954 in South Africa. He came to Namibia in 1972 with his
parents. He received his schooling in Pretoria and thereafter studied law in Stellenbosch
in South Africa and Harvard in the United States. He underwent military service in
1978/79. He is a director of the Namibia Legal Assistance Centre from 198? to 199?.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Namibia National Archives Database
000304
Smuts, J.J.L.
*
---
J.J.L. Smuts worked for the Walvisch Bay Mining Company in the 1850s and later became a
close associate of Charles John Andersson. The latter equipped Smuts for an expedition
which he undertook to Kaokoland in 1864 with Robert Lewis and James Todd. During this
expedition they were attacked by a group headed by Samuel Afrikaner, apparently after
themselves having attacked a kraal and shot the headman. They were captured and robbed of
virtually everything.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
000604
Sneeue, Timotheus
* .1801 at Warmbad
+ 09.10.1899 at Warmbad
---
Timotheus Sneeue was born in 1801 at Warmbad. He was the son of a black man who came to
Warmbad in 1793 and a !Gami-#nun (Bondelswart) woman. Sneeue was schooled at Lilyfontein
in the Cape Colony. He worked for the Wesleyan Missionary Society and the Rhenish
Missionary Society in Namaland as an interpreter, evangelist, and schoolteacher. It is
said that he had served as secretary to the Conference of Hoachanas 1858. In 1867 he was
elected as Deputy Captain at Warmbad, an office from which he resigned only in 1898. He
conducted a regular diplomatic correspondence with the authorities in the South African
Cape Colony. Apart from securing salaries and pensions from the Cape Colony and, later,
the German Government, he was also granted ownership of a farm by !Gami-#nun Captain
Willem Christian (#Nao Xab -||ômab) for his services in the Korana war, 1879, where he
led the Bondelswart forces.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: NAN ZBU U.V.1.1; Hahn 1984/85:1292; Strauss: War along the Orange, p.102;
Esterhuyse 1968:71, 79, 83; Lau 1995:247;
001149
Snyman, Jacobus van Deventer
[Snyman, Jaap - colloquial name]
* 07.02.1919 at Zeerust, South Africa
---
Jacobus van Deventer Snyman was born on 07.02.1919 at Zeerust in South Africa. He was
educated at the Windhoek High School and the Pretoria University. He was a businessman,
Managing Director of Edelwyne (SWA) Ltd. and Snymans Bottle Store (Pty) Ltd. He was a
local politician and was elected to the Windhoek Town Council in 1954. He served as Deputy
Mayor from 1955 to 1957 and as Mayor from 1957 to 1961. He was a member of the SWA Road
Transportation Board, the SWA Sakekamer (Vice-Chair), the Publicity Society of SWA
(executive member), the SWA Municipal Association (President), and on many sporting
bodies. Snyman gained notoriety by his involvement in the 1959 Old Location shooting,
where his car was set alight by Kakurukaze Mungunda. He was married to Martha Jacoba
Snyman, née van der Westhuyzen in 1943.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman Local politician
Functions: Mayor - Windhoek - 1957-1961
Married to: Martha Jacoba Snyman, née van der Westhuyzen, married 1943-
Father: Petrus Christoffel Snyman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001166
Solf, Wilhelm, Dr.
* 05.10.1862 at Berlin, Germany
+ 06.02.1936 at Berlin, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1912
Last departure from Namibia: 1912
---
Wilhelm Solf was born on 05.10.1862 at Berlin in Germany. He studied oriental languages,
in particular Sanskrit, in Berlin, London and Calcutta (now Kolkata)(doctorate 1885). He
joined the consular service and served i.a. in Calcutta. In 1890, he withdrew from
consular service to study law. In 1896 he was a Gerichtsassessor. He joined the
Kolonialabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes and in 1898 was district judge in Dar-es-Salaam.
In 1899 he served as council chairman in Apia, Samoa. From 1900 to 1911 he was the
Governor of German Samoa. On 20.12.1911 he became the Secretary of the German Colonial
Office until 1918. He travelled to Namibia and German East Africa in 1912, to Cameroon and
Togo in 1913. From October to December 1918 he served as the Secretary of the German
Foreign Office. He was the Vice President of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft. From 1920
to 1928 he was the Ambassador to Japan. He was the Chairperson of the Board of the
Deutsches Auslands-Institut. Politically favouring centrist politics, he joined the
Deutsche Demokratische Partei. He was married to Hanna Solf-Dotti. He died on 06.02.1936
at Berlin.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Profession: Civil servant
Functions: Gouverneur - Samoa - 1900-1911
Staatssekretär - Reichskolonialamt - 1911-1918
Married to: Hanna Solf-Dotti
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Personal papers, including some material on his African travels)
2). Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes (Files from Apia Municipality 1899-1900)
3 (Substantial parts of the personal papers lost during World War II)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I and 1,II; ann, Rulers; Dt.Koloniallexikon; Hubatsch;
001855
Solioz
*
---
Solioz was Chief Engineer of the Otavi Railway Line.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:168, 352;
001683
Solms-Wildenfels, Otto zu, Graf
* 23.05.1866
---
Otto zu Solms-Wildenfels was born on 23.05.1866. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:82;
001721
Sonnenberg, Else
* at Wendeburg/Braunschweig, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 03.1903
Last departure from Namibia: 04.1904
---
Else Sonnenberg married 1903 the trader Gustav Sonnenberg, who established a store at the
Waterberg, where they were caught in the German-Ovaherero War in 1904. Her husband was
killed, and she trekked with other settler women and Rhenish Missionary Wilhelm Eich
several weeks in the trail of the Waterberg Ovaherero to Oviumbo, where they were released
to the Germans. After her return to Germany in April, she found employment in Bad Harzburg
and wrote a book "Wie es am Waterberg zuging" about her experiences.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI
Married to: Gustav Sonnenberg (-1904), married 1903-1904
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:94-95;
000605
Spangenberg, Willem Hendrik Hermanus
* 07.06.1836 at Malmesbury, Cape, South Africa
+ .1934
---
Willem Hendrik Hermanus Spangenberg was born on 07.06.1836 at Malmesbury in Cape, South
Africa. He was a trader and farmer. He first appears in missionary records as a leader of
a group of 100 Boer families intending to settle in Gibeon. Moses Witbooi actually sold
him Goamus, but nothing came of the scheme as Moses had sold Goamus to two other
applicants as well. In 1887 he acted as "sole agent and attorney" of ||Hawoben
leader #Arisemab, negotiating mining concessions between the Captain and the Great Oasis
Syndicate in Kimberley. By 1891 he owned a sizeable establishment at Klipdrift near
Hasuur. In 1894 he was arrested, and expelled from the territory shortly afterwards on
suspicion of gun-running for Hendrik Witbooi. He returned in 1902 and, after a short court
hearing, was allowed to remain in German South West Africa. However, by 1906 he had left
again, and by 1911 he was sought for "murder and assistance to rebellious
natives". He died in 1934.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: NAN NLA 120; NAN ZBU R.VII.c.20; NAN ZBU G.II.i.3; NAN GKE 354, court minutes
2.7.1902; Quellen 6:30.6.1891, 17:12.5.1886; Lenssen 1994:290;
001856
Spellmeyer, Christian
* 06.10.1870 at Levern/Westfalen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1899
---
Christian Spellmeyer was born on 06.10.1870 at Levern/Westfalen in Germany. He was a
missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1899, to be
stationed at Gibeon and Gochas. He was married to Elisabeth Spellmeyer, née Lange in
1901.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Elisabeth Spellmeyer, née Lange, married 1901-
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:212, 358;
001857
Spengler, H.
* in Germany
---
H. Spengler was a German mining engineer. He did prospecting near Rehoboth in 1884.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Namibia National Archives Database
001858
Spiecker, F.A.
* in Germany
---
F.A. Spiecker was a Director of the Missions-Handels-Aktiengesellschaft from 1879.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Namibia National Archives Database
001859
Spiecker, Johannes
* in Germany
---
Johannes Spiecker was the seventh inspector of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft from
1908 to 1918.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Functions: Direktor - Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft - 1908-1918
Namibia National Archives Database
001167
Spies, Stefanus Johannes
* 16.06.1922 at Oudtshoorn, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1945
---
Stefanus Johannes Spies was born on 16.06.1922 at Oudtshoorn in South Africa. He was
educated at the Oudtshoorn High School and the Stellenbosch University. He came to Namibia
in 1945. He was a businessman, Director of Trust Estate Co. (Pty) Ltd., Protea Holdings
(SWA) (Pty) Ltd., Consortium Visserye (Pty) Ltd. and Ohlthaver & List. Mayor of
Windhoek from 1961 to 1963. He was a Committee Member of the SWA Publicity Association, a
Member of the Road Transportation Board and a N.G. Kerk Council Member. He was
married to Zanobia Spies, née Terblanche in 1951.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman Local politician
Functions: Mayor - Windhoek - 1961-19963
Married to: Zanobia Spies, née Terblanche, married 1951-
Father: H.S. Spies
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001168
Spiess, Fritz
* .1881
+ .1959
---
Fritz Spiess was born in 1881. He was a German navy officer in the rank of Konteradmiral.
He served as President of the Deutsche Seewarte. He was the commander of the research and
surveying ship Meteor which did a detailed survey of the southern Atlantic in the 1930s.
Spiess and his Meteor crew paid an extensive highly-publicised visit to Namibia in 193?,
which was also seen as a political demonstration on continued German interest in the
territory. He died in 1959.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Navy officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg (Personal papers 1907-1952, i.a. about the Meteor
expeditions)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I;
001169
Sprengel, Carl Manfred
* 10.04.1932 at Kreis Wehlau, Ostpreussen, Germany (now: Poland)
First entry to Namibia: 1961
---
Carl Manfred Sprengel was born on 10.04.1932 at Kreis Wehlau, Ostpreussen in Germany (now:
Poland). He came to Namibia in 1961. He was a Director of C.M. Sprengel Building
Contractors in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Hannelore Sprengel, née Peglow, married 1960-
Father: Carl Sprengel
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001170
Sprigade, Paul
* 09.11.1863 at Militsch, Germany (now: Poland)
---
Paul Sprigade was born on 09.11.1863 at Militsch in Germany (now: Poland). He joined the
cartographic institute of D. Reimer publishing house, Berlin, in 1883. In 1899, the
Institute for Colonial Cartography was established under the joint management of Sprigade
and Moisel to compile maps of the German colonies for the German Colonial Office. In 1907,
Sprigade did a study trip to Togo, but he never visited Namibia. However, many Namibian
maps were drawn under his direction. He also trained many civil and military colonial
officers in cartography.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Cartographer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000082
Springer, Dieter
* 24.04.1933 at Stuttgart, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1952
---
Dieter Springer was born on 24.04.1933 in Stuttgart in Germany. He received his schooling
in Esslingen. He underwent vocational training as a confectioner. He came to Namibia in
1952 and worked first for various restaurants and hotels. In 1958 he established a
confectionery production in Windhoek, which he led until his retirement in 1994. He was or
is active in sport (board of Marlin Schwimm Club), on the board of the Deutsche
Pfadfinder, and the Deutscher Schulverein Windhoek (1982-1990). Since 1990 he chairs the
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Schulvereine. He is active in the "Fördergesellschaft
Deutscher Schulvereine", the "Deutscher Kulturrat", the German Namibian
Development Corporation and the Lions Club, and since 1997 on the board of the Namibia
Scientific Society.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Functions: Chairman - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Schulvereine
Married to: ??, married 1963
Namibia National Archives Database
000606
Stage, Paul
* 31.07.1873
---
Paul Stage was born on 31.07.1873. He was a lieutenant of the Schutztruppe. He led the
German detachment in the skirmish at Vaalgras where Hendrik Witbooi was fatally wounded on
29.10.1905. No further details traced.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:245; Fischer 1935:272;
000415
Stahl, Friedrich
* .1865
+ .1936
---
Friedrich Stahl was born in 1865. He was a German officer. He served with the rank of
Captain (Hauptmann) in the Schutztruppe für Südwestafrika, first as commander of the 5th
Battery, than as commander of the Swakopmund base and commissary for buying horses in the
Cape Colony. He was discharged for health reasons by the end of 1905 and returned to
Germany, where he rejoined the Bavarian Army. He died in 1936.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Stadtarchiv Nürnberg (Photo album, including photos from Swakopmund and Herero
prisoners)
RAW DATA: J. Zeller: Wie Vieh wurden hunderte zu Tode getrieben und wie Vieh begraben.
2001;
001860
Stahlhut, Lina
[Rohde, Lina - birth name]
* 21.10.1873 at Sachsenhausen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1895
---
Lina Stahlhut was born on 21.10.1873 at Sachsenhausen in Germany. She was a sister of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. She came to Namibia in 1895, and was stationed at Ondjiva
and Karibib.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001172
Stals, Ernest Lodevicus Paul
* 19.09.1937 at Pofadder, South Africa
---
Ernest Lodevicus Paul Stals was born on 19.09.1937 at Pofadder in South Africa. He was a
lecturer in history at the Stellenbosch University in South Africa (1962-1969) and the
Randse Afrikaanse University (1969-). He was the head of Social Science Department at the
Windhoek Teacher Training College, then back at the Randse Afrikaanse University,
thereafter Professor at the Academy in Windhoek. He was a Member of the Broederbond. Lives
in retirement in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: HIS
Profession: Historian
RAW DATA: Namibiana 10;
001861
Stapff, Dr.
* in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1885
Last departure from Namibia: 1886
---
Stapff was a mining engineer. He was the leader of an expedition of the Deutsche
Kolonialgesellschaft für Südwestafrika to Namibia from 1885 to 1886 to explore mineral
exploitation, in particular the Hope Mine.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:121-122; Drechsler 1966:45;
001862
Stauch, August
* .1878 in Germany
+ .1947 in Germany
---
August Stauch was born in 1878. He worked as "Bahnmeister" at the
Lüderitzbucht-Aus railway line when one of his workers, Zacharias Lewala, brought him a
diamond. Stauch realised the potential, registered claims, and subsequently made a huge
fortune in diamonds, most of which he lost again through various misfortunes. While Stauch
died in Germany, his family stayed farming in Namibia. He died in 1947 in Germany.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001863
Stead
*
---
Stead got a mining concession in the Red Nation and Swartbooi territory around 1855, and
opened a mine near Rehoboth which was abandoned in 1858.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:10;
001173
Stein, Franz
* 13.10.1896
First entry to Namibia: 1913
---
Franz Stein was born on 13.10.1896. He was a farmer and director of companies.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer Businessman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000402
Steinhardt, Julius
* .1880 at Naumburg/Saale, Germany
+ 11.1955 at Baden-Baden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1909
Last departure from Namibia: 1919
---
Julius Steinhardt was born in 1880 at Naumburg/Saale in Germany, in a military officer's
family. He lived from 1909 to 1919 in Namibia in various occupations, mostly as a farmer
and hunter. After his return to Germany, he started a career as a prolific writer of
adventure novels of doubtful literary value, mainly drawing on his hunting experiences in
Namibia. He died in November 1955 at Baden-Baden in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: WRI
Profession: Writer
Namibia National Archives Database
001174
Stengel, Heinz Walter
* in Germany
+ .1979
First entry to Namibia: 1929
---
Heinz Walter Stengel was a hydraulic engineer. He came to Namibia in 1929. Since 1947 he
worked for the Department of Water Affairs in the SWA Administration, where he was
involved in preparatory work for the storage dams of Hardap, Naute and the Swakop River
dams. In 1954 he was tasked with water development in Ovamboland. He has written numerous
scientific publications. He died in 1979.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Profession: Engineer
Collections/Papers:
1). Sam Cohen Library: Stengel Collection (Scientific papers)
RAW DATA: Afrika Post Juli 1979 (Obituary); Mitteilungen SWAWG 199 (12979), No.12:5-6;
001176
Stercken, Hans
* 02.09.1923 at Aachen, Germany
---
Hans Stercken was born on 02.09.1923 at Aachen in Germany. He was a German politician
(CDU) and Member of the Bundestag. He took part in the pro-Apartheid South Africa
"South West Africa lobby" in the West German parliament. He was strongly
involved with the Interessengemeinschaft Deutschsprachiger Südwester (IG).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
RAW DATA: Kürschners Deutscher Bundestag 10 (1983);
001177
Stern, Heinz
* 10.04.1922 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Heinz Stern was born on 10.04.1922 in Germany. He was educated in Frankfurt/M. He came to
Namibia in 1936. He was a businessman in the fur trade, Director of International Karakul
Exporters (Pty) Ltd., Sterns Stock (Pty) Ltd. and Stern Bros. (Pty) Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
001178
Stern, Walter
* 09.01.1915 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Walter Stern was born on 09.01.1915 in Germany. He was educated in Frankfurt/M. He came to
Namibia in 1936. He was a businessman in the fur trade, Director of International Karakul
Exporters (Pty) Ltd., Sterns Stock (Pty) Ltd., Stern Bros. (Pty) Ltd. and a committee
member of the SWA Karakul Exporters Association.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
000305
Sterrenberg, Luise
[Hechel, Luise - birth name]
*
---
Luise Sterrenberg, née Hechel, was the wife of the Rhenish Missionary Peter Sterrenberg.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Petter Sterrenberg (1831-1892), married 1862-
Namibia National Archives Database
000306
Sterrenberg, Peter
* 17.03.1831 at Oldendorp, Germany
+ 14.06.1892 at Schietfontein, South Africa
---
Peter Sterrenberg was born on 17.03.1831 at Oldendorp in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft at Wuppertal in South Africa (1859-1861), where he was
responsible for educational work at Amandelboom (1861-1862), De Tuyn (1863-1865) and
Schietfontein (1865-1892). He was married to Luise Hechel on 13.05.1862. They had eight
children. He died on 14.06.1892 at Schietfontein in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Luise Sterrenberg, née Hechel, married 1862
Namibia National Archives Database
001867
Stevenson
*
---
Stevenson was a trader in Omaruru in 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Bülow 1896:31;
001179
Steyn, Hermanus Johannes
* .1890 at Ermelo, South Africa
---
Hermanus Johannes Steyn was born in 1890 at Ermelo in South Africa. He was educated at
Pretoria, Paarl, and the University of Amsterdam. He was a medical practitioner and eye
specialist. He was the Chairperson of the Suidwes Drukkery and Mayor of Windhoek from 1956
to 1957. He was a Member of the Immigration Council of SWA. He was the Leader of the
National Party SWA and Member of the Diamond Board.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000118
Steyn, Marthinus
[Steyn, Tienie - colloquial name]
* .1920
+ 14.04.1998 at Onze Rust near Bloemfontein, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1977
---
Marthinus Steyn was the first Administrator-General for South West Africa from 1977 to
1979. Gerrit N. Viljoen, Chancellor of the Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit and Leader of
the South African Broederbond became his successor on 07.08.1979.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Lawyer
Functions: Administrator-General - 1977-
RAW DATA: South African digest 16.9.1977:8; Times of Namibia 3(1977):7; Chronology of
Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001180
Stich, Ferdinand
* 14.04.1892 at Frankfurt/M, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1911
---
Ferdinand Stich was born on 14.04.1892 at Frankfurt/M in Germany. He was educated at
Berlin and Mannheim. He came to Namibia in 1911. He was a bookseller and stationer and
owner of Swakopmunder Buchhandlung. He was a Swakopmund town councillor, Chairperson of
the Season Committee Swakopmund and Chairperson of the Swakopmund Branch of the Arts
Association. He was married to Alice Stich, née Willasch in 1933.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Alice Stich, née Willasch, married 1933-
Father: Andreas Stich
Collections/Papers:
1). Sam Cohen Library (Africana book collection and newspaper collection)
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001684
Stillfried und Rattwitz, Georg von, Graf
* 17.07.1870
---
Georg von Stillfried und Rattwitz was born on 17.07.1870. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179; Drechsler 1966:168, 352;
000886
Stöck, Heinz
* 15.01.1935 at Windhoek
---
Heinz Stöck was born on 15.01.1935 at Windhoek. He went to school in Windhoek and
Swakopmund. He received agricultural training at Neudamm. He was a cattle breeder on farm
Frauenstein. He had an interest in ornithology, was active in the SWA Scientific Society,
which he served as President from 1979 to 1981.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Functions: President - SWA Scientific Society - 1979-1981
RAW DATA: Mitt.SWAWG 43,4-6;
001868
Stoffel, Petrus
*
+ .1903
---
Petrus Stoffel was a church elder in Bethany.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: JBRMG 1903:15;
000307
Stolberg, Auguste Amalie Ida
* 21.07.1824
---
Auguste Amalie Ida Stolberg was born on 21.07.1824. She was a countess and member of an
aristocratic family that supported Carl Hugo Hahn and his mission for several years and
belonged to a circle that made the foundation of the Augustineum possible. She was a
daughter of Count Georg Friedrich Heinrich zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.
---
Gender: f
Father: Georg Friedrich Graf zu Waldeck-Pyrmont
Namibia National Archives Database
001869
Stoll
* in Germany
---
Stoll was a Schutztruppe non-commissioned officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:154;
000031
Strassen, Helmut zur
[Zur Strassen, Helmut - ]
* .1929 at Frankfurt/M, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1953
---
Helmut zur Strassen was born in 1929 in Frankfurt/M. He underwent from 1943 to 1945
military service in the German Army. After World War Two he received agricultural
training. He emigrated to Namibia in 1953 to work as a farm manager, and later as a cattle
agent. Since 1964 he was in the tourism business as a tour guide and tour operator.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: Tourism
Profession: Tour operator: retired
Namibia National Archives Database
001181
Strauss, Frederik Johannes
* 11.02.1948 at Gobabis
---
Johannes Frederik Strauss was born on 11.02.1948 at Gobabis. He studied at the University
of Pretoria (MA in Ethnology, 1973). He worked for the South African Human Sciences
Research Council, then studied for B.Compt. degree at the University of South Africa
(UNISA). He worked for the Bible Society, then as a free-lance business consultant. Since
April 1981, he edited the far right-wing Afrikaans magazine "Die Stryder". He
also wrote a pamphlet "SWA vir die wolve?"
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Namibia National Archives Database
001685
Streccius, Alfred
* 03.06.1874
---
Alfred Streccius was born on 03.06.1874. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:260-261;
000375
Streitwolf, Kurt
* 03.07.1871 at Heide, Germany
+ 30.08.1954 at Stade, Germany
Last departure from Namibia: 1914
---
Kurt Streitwolf was born on 03.o7.1871 in Heide in Germany. He came to Namibia as an
officer in 1896 and served as a district commissioner in Okahandja (1899-) and Gobabis
(1904-1909) before he set out in 1909 to establish a German administration in the Caprivi
Strip, which until then was only nominally under German colonial rule. He was the Resident
Administrator in the Caprivi Strip from 1909 to 1912. He then served as a Native
Commissioner in Windhoek, until his return to Germany in 1914. Streitwolf continued to
serve in the German Army during the 1st and 2nd World Wars and died at the age of 83 in
Stade in Germany on 30.08.1954. He was married to Gertrud Streitwolf, née von
Bennigsen-Förder.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL ADM
Profession: Military officer
Functions: Distriktsamtmann - Okahandja - 1899-
Distriktsamtmann - Gobabis - 1904-1909
Resident - Caprivizipfel - 1909-1910
Referent für Eingeborenenfragen - Kaiserl. Gouvernement Windhoek - 191?-1914
Married to: Gertrud Streitwolf, née von Bennigsen-Förder
Collections/Papers:
1). Streitwolf family archives, Brunsbüttel
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:149, 192, 222; Drechsler 1966:246-247, 355-356, 359, 363; DSAB IV;
000812
Stritter, Heinrich
* 08.02.1883 at Biebrich, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1907
---
Heinrich Stritter was born on 08.02.1883 at Biebrich in Germany. He was a mission farmer
employed by the Rhenish Mission from 1907-1912 at Omburo, and from 1912 at Otjimbingwe. He
was married to Johanna Stritter, née Redecker in 1910.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR REL
Profession: Mission farmer
Married to: Johanna Stritter, née Redecker, married 1910-
Children: Wilhelm Heinrich Georg Stritter (1910-1998)
Namibia National Archives Database
000811
Stritter, Wilhelm Heinrich Georg
* 19.08.1910 at Omburo
+ 21.12.1998 at Windhoek
---
Wilhelm Heinrich Georg Stritter was born as a son of a Rhenish missionary on 19.08.1910 at
Omburo. He grew up in Omburo and Otjimbingwe. He was educated at Swakopmund, the Windhoek
High School, and the University of Cape Town. He was a teacher as from 1934. He served as
Secretary of the SWA Scientific Society from 1932 to 1947, and was active in community
affairs, i.a. in the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Susanne-Grau Old Age Home.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Functions: Secretary - SWA Scientific Society - 1932-1947
Mother: Johanna Stritter, née Redecker
Father: Heinrich Stritter (1883-)
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Nam.Sci.Soc. 43:7-12(2002):37;
000813
Stritter, Johanna
[Redecker, Johanna - birth name]
* at Otjimbingwe
---
---
Gender: f
Married to: Heinrich Stritter (1883-), married 1910-
Children: Wilhelm Heinrich Georg Stritter (1910-1998)
Namibia National Archives Database
000359
Strydom, Johan
* .1938 at Otjiwarongo
---
Johan Strydom was born in Otjiwarongo in 1938 and grew up in Outjo. He graduated in law
from the University of Stellenbosch in 1963 and started practising law as as public
prosecutor in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in 1964. He was appointed as Judge in the
Supreme Court of South West Africa in 1983. At independence he was promoted to Acting
Judge President, with that appointment being made permanent in March 1991. He served as
Chairman of the First Delimitation Commission in 1991, and Chairman of the Electoral
Commission. He was appointed Chief Justice in 1999.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Judge
Functions: Judge President - 1991-
Chief Justice - 1999-
Namibia National Archives Database
001870
Stübel, Oberleutnant
* in Germany
---
Stübel was the Distriktchef of Rehoboth until 1907.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
000477
Stübel, Oscar Wilhelm, Dr.
* 11.08.1846 at Dresden, Germany
+ 15.06.1921
First entry to Namibia: -
Last departure from Namibia: -
---
Oscar Wilhelm Stübel was born on 11.08.1846 at Dresden in Germany. He participated in the
1870/71 War between Germany and France in the rank of Reserveleutnant. From 1879, he
worked for the German Foreign Office with consular postings at St.Louis, Cincinnati,
Samoa, Copenhagen, Shanghai, and Santiago. He became Director of the Colonial Department
of the Foreign Office in June 1900 and held this post until November 1905. He was
Ambassador to Kristiania (Norway) in 1906 and retired in Jan. 1907.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Direktor der Kolonialabteilung - Auswärtiges Amt - Jun.1900-Nov.1905
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon III:431;
001182
Stuhlmann, Franz
* .1863
+ .1928
---
Franz Stuhlmann was born in 1863. He was the Head of the Department of Agriculture and
Surveying in the administration of German East Africa, Director of the agricultural
research institute at Arnani. Later he became Director of the Hamburger
Weltwirtschaftsarchiv.
---
Gender: m
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Berlin ?
2). Staatsarchiv Hamburg (i.a. travel diaries)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I;
000753
Stumpfe, Ernst
* 17.01.1873 at Ludwigsdorf, Germany
+ 08.06.1953 in Namibia
First entry to Namibia: 17.07.1894
---
Ernst Stumpfe was born on 17.01.1873 at Ludwigsdorf in Germany. He came to Namibia with
the July 1894 reinforcements of the Schutztruppe. He took part in the Naukluft battles
against the Witbooi Nama in 1894, and was afterwards stationed at Gibeon. He resigned from
the German military forces in 1899. He went to Germany and married. He returned to Gibeon
in 1900 as a policeman (until 1908). He bought the farm Koichas in the Gibeon district in
1907 from the German Government (12 127 ha, of which 5 000 ha were for free on account of
his Schutztruppe service, and the rest for 4850,80 Mark). The farm was previously
developed with a dam by the Vilanders, Baster clients of Hendrik Witbooi. He farmed on
Koichas. The North-South railway line cut through the farm, and Stumpfe sold land for the
erection of a railway station "Marienthal", which soon developed into a trade
centre. In 1912, he erected the first private building near the station, the hotel
"Zur Erholung", and in 1914 he applied for the establishment of a village, which
was finally granted by the South African Administration in 1920. Stumpfe has therefore
been dubbed "founder of Mariental". He died on 08.06.1953.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL AGR
Profession: Soldier Farmer
Married to: <1>Bertha Stumpfe (1880?-1910), married 1899-1910
<2>Martha Stumpfe (1883-1960)
Children: Waldemar Stumpfe (1910-)
RAW DATA: Autobiographical report in VEM: RMG 1.341a = A/w 8c, fol.2-5; Zondagh
1991:168-171;
001872
Stürmann, Cornelius
*
---
Cornelius Stürmann was a !Gami-#nun (Bondelswart) leader who surrendered to the Germans
(Captain Siebert) in Lifdood on 05.11.1906.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:227-228, 361; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000607
Stürmann, Skipper
[Stürmann, Skipper - alternative spelling]
[Stuurmann, Sheppert - alternative spelling]
[Sturmann, Sheppard - alternative spelling]
[Sturmann, Sheperd - alternative spelling]
*
+ 04.1907 at the Cape Colony, South Africa
---
Skipper Stürmann was a follower of the Ethiopian Movement, a rapidly-growing movement of
African Christians based in South Africa with the aim of establishing an independent
African church. Stürmann, originally from Port Elizabeth, called himself a
"prophet". He arrived in Namibia in January 1904 and, with 30 "warriors of
God", joined Hendrik Witbooi's and Marengo's guerrilla war against German colonialism
between October 1904 and late May 1905. He left Namibia in about June 1905. He was
sentenced to death and hanged by Cape authorities in April 1907 as a religious agitator
allegedly responsible for the killing of a farmer. Modern historians as well as Hendrik
Witbooi's contemporaries commenting on Hendrik Witbooi's decision to rise in war against
the Germans in 1904, invariably raise the matter of Stürmann's "influence" on
Hendrik Witbooi.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
RAW DATA: Dedering 1984:62-73; Drechsler 1980:183; Drechsler 1966:210;
001873
Surén, Emmy
* in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1897
---
Emmy Surén came to Namibia in 1897 as Red Cross nurse and lived in Swakopmund. She
celebrated her 100th birthday on 14.08.1973.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Nurse
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001686
Surmann, Hans
* 11.08.1878
+ 06.10.1905 at Jerusalem
---
Hans Surmann was born on 11.08.1878. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died in action in
the German-Nama War 1903-1913 near Jerusalem, south-east of Warmbad, on 06.10.1905.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:20-22;
000308
Svante, Mr.
* in Sweden
+ 28.04.1866 near Namutoni
---
Svante was a Swedish servant and collector formerly in the employ of Charles John
Andersson's father. He came to Namibia in the early 1860s, and joined the group of
hunters/traders who worked for Andersson. In 1866 he was sent with Palgrave to the north
of the country by Andersson to collect animal specimens. He died there of tetanus after
the party was attacked at Namutoni by Orlam Afrikaners on 28.04.1866.
---
Gender: m
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
001008
Svendsen, Kirsten
* in Norway
+ 14.12.2002 at Oslo, Norway
---
Kirsten Svendsen was a Norwegian solidarity activist. She established the Namas Office
(Namibia Association of Norway) in Windhoek in 1991. At the time of her death on
14.12.2002, she served as Secretary General of Namas.
---
Gender: f
RAW DATA: Obituary by Bernt Lund, The Namibian 14.01.2003;
000720
Swart, Claas
[Zwarts, Klas - alternative spelling]
[Swarts, Class - alternative spelling]
[Zwart, Nikolas - alternative spelling]
*
+ .1901 in Namibia
---
Class Swart was a Captain of the Basters of Grootfontein (South). He signed a treaty with
the Germans in 1896. He was killed in action during the 1901 "Grootfontein South
Bastard Rising against the Germans" (February or March 1901).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: TRA
RAW DATA: Leutwein: Elf Jahre, pp.166-169; Drechsler 1966:128, 346;
001874
Swartbooi, Abraham, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, Abraham - alternative spelling]
[!Âbeb !nagamab !Huisemab - Nama name]
*
---
Abraham Swartbooi (!Âbeb !nagamab !Huisemab) was the fifth captain in the genealogy of
the Swartboois in the lower Swakop area and Ameib around 1864 until 1882. He was the son
of Willem Swartbooi and elder brother of Petrus Swartbooi (!Âbeb #khami) and younger
brother of David Swartbooi (!Âbeb gaib). Another son of Willem Swartbooi and Abraham's
brother was Johannes Swartbooi. On 02.12.1880, the Ovaherero from Otjimbingwe and Omaruru
were defeated by Abraham Swartbooi in the Battle of Etusis. Otjimbingwe was plundered by
his brother, Petrus Swartbooi. The Rhenish missionaries under the leadership of Johann
Albrecht Friedrich Böhm were allowed to leave Otjimbingwe unhindered. On 01.04.1881
Abraham Swartbooi again attacked Otjimbingwe, after the ||Khau-gôan even have threatened
Walvis Bay. Cattle owned by European traders such as Johann Wilhelm
Redecker and Johann Carl Eduard Hälbich were taken by the Swartboois. In pursuance of the
Swartboois, the Ovaherero also threatened Walvis Bay. Magistrate Musgrave and most
Europeans consequently escaped to Cape Town. In March 1882 the
special Cape Colony representative and former Rhenish Missionary Carl Hugo Hahn, negotiated
a peace accord between Abraham Swartbooi and the Ovaherero. Consequently the Swartboois
moved to Franzfontein. He was followed by Cornelius Swartbooi (|Hôa-|arab
!Âbemab)(1882/83-1895).
---
Gender: m
Married to: |Hôa-|aras
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:32, 34, 38; Budack 1972:252-253; Chronology of Namibian
History, 2003 (Dierks)
001875
Swartbooi, Booi
*
+ .?.1910 at Windhoek
---
Booi Swartbooi was the leader of a group of 18 Orlams who moved from the Richtersveld into
Namibia in 1909. In December 1909, they murdered several Boer farmers, German policemen
and soldiers. They then moved across the eastern border, where they were captured by the
South African Union Police, extradited to German SWA, tried and executed in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001876
Swartbooi, Cornelius, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, Cornelius]
[|Hôa-|arab !Âbemab - Nama name]
*
---
Cornelius Swartbooi (|Hôa-|arab !Âbemab) was the sixth captain in the genealogy of the
Swartbooi Nama. He was the son of Abraham Swartbooi (!Âbeb !nagamab !Huisemab). He lived
in Franzfontein. In 1885, he sold the Kaokoveld coast to Lüderitz, represented by his
agent W. Belck. In 1895, he was followed by David Swartbooi (!Hana-mûb !Âbemab)
(1895-1898).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: !Khorebes
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.375
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:95, 107, 112-113; Drechsler 1966:123; Budack 1972:252-253;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
001877
Swartbooi, David, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, David]
[!Hana-mûb !Âbemab - Nama name]
*
---|
David Swartbooi (!Hana-mûb !Âbemab) was the seventh captain in the genealogy of the
Swartbooi Nama. He was the son of Cornelius Swartbooi. Topnaars and
||Khau-|gõan (Swartboois), together with some
Ovaherero under Chief Kambata, staged uprisings against the Germans in the Franzfontein,
Otjitambi, Kamanjab and Grootberg (Khoekhoegowab: Kai|uis) areas. The Germans were
supported by Hendrik Witbooi. Consequently the Swartbooi Captain, David
Swartbooi, was deposed by German forces under v. Estorff in 1897/98. His successor and
last Swartbooi Captain was Lazarus Swartbooi (!Kharab !Hanamûmab)(1898-1905).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: <1>!Kharas
<2>#Oas
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:123; Budack 1972:252-253; Chronology of Namibian History,
2003 (Dierks)
001878
Swartbooi, Joel
[Zwartbooi, Joel]
*
---
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:123;
000502
Swartbooi, Johannes
[Zwartbooi, Johannes - alternative spelling]
*
---
Johannes Swartbooi was the son of Captain Willem Swartbooi.
---
Gender: m
Father: Willem Swartbooi (1790-1855)
Namibia National Archives Database
001637
Swartbooi, Lazarus, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, Lazarus - alternative spelling]
[!Kharab !Hanamûmab - Nama name]
*
+ .1905 in Namibia
---
Lazarus Swartbooi (!Kharab !Hanamûmab) was the eighth and last captain in the genealogy
of the Swartbooi Nama. He was imposed by the German forces (under von Estorff) upon the
Swartbooi Nama as a captain after deposing David Swartbooi in March 1898. Was detained by
the Germans in 1904 to prevent him from joining Hendrik Witbooi in the German-Nama War
1903-1913, and died in detention in 1905.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Functions: Captain - Zwartbooi - 1898-1905
Married to: <1>Katrinas
<2>#Habes
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:123, 358; Budack 1972:252-253
002167
Swartbooi, Manasse, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, Manasse]
[#Haobeb Tsauxamab - Nama name]
*
---
Manasse Swartbooi (#Haobeb Tsauxamab) was the third captain in the genealogy of the
Swartbooi Nama. He was the son of Tsauxab gaib. The precise dates could not be traced.
Most probably he lived at a time, when the ||Khau-|gôan were still part of the Kei||khaun
community. But it is more than probable that #Haobeb Tsauxamab was identical with
Tsaugamap, mentioned by Schmelen in 1814, Campbell in 1815 and Kitchingman in 1820. He was
followed by Willem Swartbooi (!Huiseb #Haobemab)(mid 1830s-1864).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: !Huises
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:252-253;
000608
Swartbooi, Petrus
[!Abeb#khami - Nama name]
[Zwartbooi, Petrus - alternative spelling]
* .1847
---
Petrus Swartbooi was born in 1847. He was the younger brother of Abraham and David
Swartbooi, sons of Willem Swartbooi (!Huiseb #Haobemab). It seems that leadership of the
Swartbooi Nama was shared between Abraham and Petrus.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: Willem Swartbooi (!Huiseb#Haobemab)
RAW DATA: Lau 1989:314; Quellen 2; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001879
Swartbooi, Samuel
[Zwartbooi, Samuel - alternative spelling]
*
---
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:123;
000503
Swartbooi, Willem, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
[Zwartbooi, Willem - alternative spelling]
[Swartbooi, Friedrich Wilhelm - Christian name since 13.12.1846]
[!Huiseb #Haobemab - Nama name]
* .1790
+ ca. 1864 in Namibia
---
Willem Swartbooi's (!Huiseb #Haobemab) birth date is uncertain, ca.1790. His father was
#Haobeb Tsauxamab (Manasse)(before 1830, dates uncertain). Willem Swartbooi, the fourth
recorded Swartbooi Captain, was the Chief of the Swartboois possibly since the mid-1830s.
Initially, he and his people lived along the upper Fish River, Bethany and at Warmbad, but
in 1845 a part of his followers moved with him to Rehoboth, where they settled with
Rhenish Missionary Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt. Originally they were part of the
Kai||khaun (Red Nation). He was married to !Abes (Anatje), who had been baptised by Johann
Heinrich Schmelen and worked as a sister under Hans-Christian Knudsen. During the
political upheavals in the country during the mid-nineteenth century, the Swartboois were
the only powerful group in the central parts of the country that did not side with the
Orlam Afrikaners, but with the Ovaherero. In February 1850, Kai|khaun Captain ||Oaseb
sought the support of Swartbooi Captain Willem Swartbooi (!Huiseb #Haobemab) against
Jonker Afrikaner, but Swartbooi refused. In 1854 Swartbooi
planned a raid on Jonker but missionary Kleinschmidt advised him not to do so, not for
moral reasons but because of lack of ammunition. This showed the missionary
double-standards: a raid against Jonker, considered as an enemy by the Rhenish Missionary
Society was not immoral, whereas Jonker’s raids were denounced as "expressions
of the anti-Christ". The arrival of European miners in the mid-1850s intensified
various conflicts between Jonker Afrikaner and other Namaland chiefs, such as ||Oaseb of
the Kai||khaun and Willem Swartbooi from Rehoboth. Jonker had Hendrik Henricks (or !Nanib
gaib #Arisemab) of the ||Hawoben and Piet Koper !Gamab of the Fransman Nama or
!Khara-khoen as allies. In the end, the Kai||khaun-Swartbooi alliance became the weaker
party. But the dividing lines between Jonker and the other Nama groups were not clear cut.
In March 1855 the first crew of the Walfish Bay Mining Company under the leadership of the
mining prospector Stead landed in Walvis Bay. They first contacted Willem Swartbooi to get
permission to exploit some promising copper deposits at Klein Aub, south-west of Rehoboth.
Also ||Oaseb of the Kai||khaun derived profit from these activities. However, the mine
didn't materialise and the company established itself in 1856 at the Matchless Mine.
Swartbooi was a signatory to the Hoachanas Peace Accord of January 1858. The new political
constellation as it consolidated itself in the late 1850s can be described as follows: The
captains ||Oaseb of the Kai||khaun, Amraal Lambert or #Gai|nub of the Kai|khauan, Piet
Koper !Gamab of the Fransman Nama or !Khara-khoen, Hendrik Henricks or !Nanib #gaib
Arisemab of the ||Hawoben and Jacobus Boois from Bethany supported Jonker Afrikaner, while
Willem Swartbooi or !Huiseb #Haobemab from Rehoboth, the chiefs from Bethany and Berseba
and later Kido Witbooi or #A-||êib from Gibeon, assisted by Chief Tseib from
Keetmanshoop, represented the anti-Jonker coalition. The Rhenish missionaries and European
traders greatly added to these polarisations of different Namibian groups. The intent was
to destroy Jonker’s nascent state structures in order to weaken any local political
power that might resist the missionaries’ objectives and later colonial annexation.
Jonker’s slogan: "Africa to Africans, but Namaland and Hereroland to us"
was a challenge which was not acceptable to the missionaries. In March 1864 Andersson’s "private army" and the ||Khau-|gõan (or Swartboois),
together with the ||Ô-gain (or "Groot Doden" – Chief Jager #Aimab from the
Kuiseb River) under the command of Green, attacked the Orlam Afrikaners in the battle of
Witvley. Carl Hugo Hahn fully supported the Andersson raid to destroy the Orlam Afrikaners
and their allies, and assured Andersson of "my and all the missionaries’
fullest support". Andersson and Green made a firm decision that they would now
ally themselves with Maharero and raise a large army against the Nama alliance. The Orlams
made a call on all Namaland chiefs "to come and help them, Andersson and the
missionaries want to take the country away". When Rehoboth was
attacked by an Afrikaner commando in August 1864, Willem Swartbooi left the settlement.
The Swartboois moved first to Otjimbingwe and later to Ameib
(1867), together with Rhenish Missionary Böhm. After initially regrouping
at Ameib, some, including the captain's family, moved to Franzfontein. Willem Swartbooi
died around 1864 and was followed by !Âbeb !nagamab !Huisemab (Abraham Swartbooi)
(1864-1882).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: Anatje Swartbooi
Mother: !Huises
Father: #Haobeb Tsauxamab
Children: Abraham, David, Johannes and Petrus Swartbooi
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:252-253; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001183
Sydow, Tilla Gisela
[Schmidt, Tilla Gisela - birth name]
[Schmidt, Tilla Gisela - widowed]
* 11.12.1914 at Berlin-Steglitz, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1951
---
Tilla Gisela Sydow, née Schmidt, was born on 11.12.1914 at Berlin-Steglitz in Germany.
She was trained as a social worker, later as a teacher. She was married to Wolfgang Sydow
in 1947 and followed him to Namibia in 1951. She worked as teacher in Omaruru (1954) and
at the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS) Windhoek from 1955 to 1974.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Married to: Wolfgang Sydow (1912-1998), married 1947-1998
Children: Helmut Sydow (1948-)
RAW DATA: Namibiana II,1;
000342
Sydow, Wolfgang
* 18.01.1912 at Berlin-Spandau, Germany
+ 17.09.1998 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Wolfgang Sydow was born on 18.01.1912 at Berlin-Spandau in Germany. He was a farmer. He
came to Namibia in 1936 to work as a farm manager. He underwent war internment in South
Africa during World War Two, from 1940 to 1944. He was repatriated to Germany in 1944. He
returned to Namibia in 1951 to work again as a farm manager, then from 1957 to 1977 for
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria/South Africa. He
served as a Secretary of the SWA Scientific Society from 1978 to 1980. As a keen amateur
historian and palaeontologist, Sydow researched about Namibian prehistory and collected a
wealth of documentary material which he made available to the National Archives of
Namibia. He was married to Tilla Gisela Sydow, née Schmidt in 1947.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Functions: Secretary - SWA Scientific Society - 1978-1980
Married to: Tilla Gisela Sydow, née Schmidt (1914-), married 1947-
Children: Helmut Sydow (1948-)
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: several accessions
2). Namibia Scientific Society
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Nam.Sci.Soc. 43:7-12 (2002):39-40;
000025
Szkandera, Jerzy, Dr.
* 17.01.1940 at Cieszyn, Poland
+ 30.11.1997 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1984
---
Jerzy Szkandera was born on 17.01.1940 at Cieszyn in Poland, where he studied medicine at
Katowice from 1958-1964 and qualified as a medical doctor. He did his M.D. in 1970 and a
second degree in radiology in 1980. He married Dr. Maria Kowalska in 1975. He emigrated to
South Africa in 1981, where he worked at Number One Military Hospital in Pretoria, and
came to Namibia in 1984 to work at the State Hospital. He set up a private radiographic
practice in 1990. On 30.11.1997, he was killed by a car while cycling outside Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical doctor
Married to: Szkandera Maria, née Kowalska, married 1975
Children: Bartek Szkandera (1978-)
Kuba Szkandera (1979-)
Namibia National Archives Database
000309
Tamm, Franz
* 25.07.1836 at Bregenstadt, Germany
+ 16.11.1876 at Otjozondjupa
---
Franz Tamm was born on 25.07.1836 at Bregenstadt in Germany. He was a cartwright and
artisan of the Rhenish Missionary Society who came to Namibia with Carl Hugo Hahn and
Eduard Hälbich in 1864, and worked at the Waterberg mission station, where he died of
tetanus after a shooting incident on 16.11.1876.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001880
Tatlow
*
---
Tatlow was a trader in Omaruru around 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Bülow 1896:31;
001184
Technau, Ernst Guenther
* at Windhoek
---
Ernst Guenther Technau was educated at the Deutsche Oberrealschule Windhoek. He was a
farmer and the proprietor of Felsenquell Mineral Water Works. He was married to Anna
Technau, née Tegethoff in 1936.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: Anna Technau, née Tegethoff, married 1936-
Father: Karl Gustav Gottlieb Technau
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000413
Tecklenburg
*
First entry to Namibia: 1900
---
Tecklenburg came to Namibia in 1900 as a judge (Landrichter) but took over administrative
functions in the colonial government as "Referent" (1901-1903), then "1.
Referent" (1904-1907), a position that was de facto a deputy governor. It could not
be established when he left Namibia; his position was taken over by Oskar Hintrager.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW ADM
Profession: Judge
RAW DATA: Lenssen Chronik; Kolonial-Handels-Adressbuch; Drechsler 1966:189, 200, 208,
212-213, 217, 242, 253, 255, 356-359, 363-364;
001185
Theron, Johannes Gysbert Marthinus, Dr.
* 20.12.1921 at Harrismith, South Africa
---
Johannes Gysbert Marthinus Theron was born on 20.12.1921 at Harrismith in South Africa. He
was educated at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. He was a medical
practitioner. He came to Namibia ca.1956. He was married to Susane Barbara Magdalena
Theron, née Hollenbach in 1949.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Married to: Susane Barbara Magdalena Theron, née Hollenbach, married 1949-
Father: Jacob Phillipus Theron
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
002032
Thieme, Sven
*
---
Sven Thieme is the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Ohlthaver & List
Group since 2003.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
002221
Thom, Kapuka John, Ovaherero (Ovahimba) Chief
*
---
Ombara (traditional title) Ovahimba Chief Kapuka John Thom is the current
Chief of the Vita Royal House, since 1996.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovahimba - 1996-
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001881
Thomas, Abraham
*
---
Abraham Thomas was a church elder in Keetmanshoop. He was the translator for Rhenish
Missionary Fenchel.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Namibia National Archives Database
001882
Thomas, Zachäus
* .188?
---
Zachäus Thomas was an evangelist of the Rhenish Mission in Keetmanshoop. He was one of
the leaders of the breakaway from the mission, later pastor of the AMEC.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
RAW DATA: Schlosser 1958:74;
000065
Thomas, Wolfgang Heinz
* .1944
First entry to Namibia: 1976
---
Wolfgang Heinz Thomas was born in 1944. He lived since 1955 in South Africa. He studied in
Stellenbosch, Berlin, Freiburg and Northwestern University. 1976 he was a member of the
finance commission of the Turnhalle Conference.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Economist
Namibia National Archives Database
001883
Thompson, Allan Douglas
* .1889
+ .1960
---
Allan Douglas Thompson was born in 1889. He was a senior karakul officer at the Government
stud farm Neudamm, east of Windhoek. He died in 1960.
---
Gender: m
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.26 (Reports 1937-38)
001884
Threlfall, William
* 06.06.1799 at Hollowforth, England
+ 08.1825 at Dabakabis near Warmbad
---
William Threlfall was born on 06.06.1799 at Hollowforth in England. He was a Wesleyan
missionary. After several journeys in South Africa and short missionary engagements, he
went to Lilyfontein in the Cape Colony to regain his health in 1824. Although no local
support was available, he started on other journeys north shortly afterwards. He was
murdered at Dabakabis near Warmbad together with his two African companions in August 1825
and has since been considered a martyr in mission literature.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
RAW DATA: Lau Hahn V:1295; DSAB I:792;
001885
Timpe, Carl
*
---
Carl Timpe was a captain who was well versed with the Namibian Atlantic coast. He
was hired by Adolf Lüderitz in 1883.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:39;
001886
Tindall, Joseph
* 15.06.1807 at Gringley-on-the-hill, England
+ 25.11.1891 at Robertson
First entry to Namibia: 1839
---
Joseph Tindall was born on 15.06.1807 at Gringley-on-the-hill in England. He was a
Wesleyan missionary. He was first sent to Namaland to assist Missionary Cook in Warmbad
1839. From there he travelled north to visit Captain Amraal and Jonker Afrikaner. He
settled with Amraal and his people at Naosanabis (today: Leonardville) in 1843 but had to
leave in 1851, owing partly to ill-health. He was married to Sarah Tindall, née Goodyer
Cooper.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Sarah Tindall, née Goodyer Cooper
Children: Henry Tindall (1831-1909)
Namibia National Archives Database
001066
Tirronen-Henrichsen, Gabi
[Henrichsen, Gabi - birth name]
[Haller, Gabi - previous married name]
* at Swakopmund
---
Gabi Tirronen-Henrichsen was a writer and tour guide. She was married to Peter Haller and
Tauno Tirronen.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI
Married to: <1>Peter Haller
<2>Tauno Tirronen
Father: Henrichsen
Namibia National Archives Database
000349
Tirronen, Toivo Emil
* 26.09.1920 at Mikkeli, Finland
+ 15.07.1981 in Namibia
First entry to Namibia: 1951
---
Toivo Emil Tirronen was born on 26.09.1920 in Mikkeli, Finland. He underwent military
service in World War Two. He studied natural sciences at Helsinki. He was sent in 1950 to
Namibia as a teacher by the Finnish Missionary Society. After obtaining his Secondary
Teachers Diploma in Stellenbosch (1951), he worked as a teacher in Ovamboland from 1951 to
1975, where he established the Oshigambo High School in 1960. After his retirement, he
continued to live in Ovamboland and did translation work. He died on 15.07.1981 and was
buried in Elim (Uukwambi). Tirronen developed a particular interest in languages and wrote
a number of school textbooks in Oshindonga and Oludhimba, as well as an Afrikaans
introduction to Oshindonga, an Oshindonga-Finnish dictionary, a (posthumously published)
Oshindonga-English dictionary and a biography of the Finnish pioneer Missionary Martti
Rautanen. He also translated biblical texts and other literature into Oshindonga, and
co-ordinated the revision of the Oshindonga Bible.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Collections/Papers:
1). ELCIN Archives, Oniipa
002205
Tjaherani, Ovaherero Chief
*
+ .1884 at Omburo
---
Tjaherani was the Ovaherero Chief at Omburo near Omaruru (ca.1860-1884). He was the
half-brother of Chief Manasse Tyiseseta (1884-1898), who was elected Ovaherero Chief of
Omaruru after Tjaherani's death in 1884. It is reported that in January 1883 he exported Dama labourers to the Cape Colony in South Africa. Tjaherani died in
1884 at Omburo.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Raw Data: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002207
Tjamuaha, Frederik II, Ovaherero Chief
*
---
Fredrik Tjamuaha II is the Chief of the Tjamuaha Royal House
since 1999.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Raw Data: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000310
Tjamuaha, Ua Tjirwe, Ovaherero Chief
[Tjamuaha, ua Tjirue - alternative spelling]
[#Ai!gorob - Nama name]
[Koppervoet - Nama name translated to Dutch]
[Kopervoet - alternative spelling]
* ca. 1790 at Otjikune
+ xx.12.1861 at Okahandja
---
Ua Tjirwe Tjamuaha was a wealthy and famous Ovaherero Chief, born around 1790 in Otjikune
as son of Tjirwe ua Mutjise and Tjiputa ua Ngombo. By 1820 he was married to his chief
wife Tjorozumo. He lived in the upper reaches of the Swakop River around Okahandja. He
moved to Windhoek the following year (Tjamuaha settled at Otjipuna
(present-day "Pokkiesdraai", named as such because missionary Wilhelm Eich had
to return there when smallpox broke out in Windhoek)). He was an associate
and tributary of Jonker Afrikaner between 1842 and 1861. He served Jonker Afrikaner by
stealing the cattle of fellow Ovaherero for him and placing men at his disposal. The two Ovaherero groups under their leaders Oove ua Muhoko Kahitjene and
Tjamuaha formed an alliance with Jonker Afrikaner and concluded a peace
treaty with him in late December 1842 (Christmas Peace of 1842). In 1844, with Jonker’s and his ally Tjamuaha’s approval, many poor and
cattleless Ovaherero (Ovatjimba) settled at the Rhenish mission stations Otjikango and
later at Otjimbingwe. They formed the core population in these stations. In 1846 Tjamuaha
settled at Okahandja after another Ovaherero leader, Oove ua Muhoko Kahitjene, had already
settled there, and after Jonker Afrikaner had raided Tjamuaha’s cattle in March. On
12.03.1851, Francis Galton arranged for a peace treaty between
Jonker Afrikaner and the Ovaherero. Jonker Afrikaner, however, was still determined to
prevent the establishment of any relations between European missionaries and Ovaherero
chiefs independent of his control. Galton also offered to arrange for a peace treaty
between the Ovaherero communities of Oove ua Muhoko Kahitjene, one of Jonker’s former
allies, and Chief John Samuel Aron Mungunda from Otjombuindja in the Ozongoto area, but
Kahitjene declined the offer. In a subsequent skirmish between Mungunda’s sons and
Kahitjene, the latter was killed. The Ovaherero decided that the Mungunda community should
settle together with Tjamuaha’s son, Maharero (or Kamaharero).
Kahitjene’s downfall could be directly attributed to his attempts to win access to
arms with assistance of Rhenish Missionary Carl Hugo Hahn. Maharero left Otjimbingwe and
returned to Tjamuaha’s place, Okahandja. In 1852 Jonker Afrikaner, extremely anxious
to prevent Europeans from exploring Hereroland and Ovamboland and supplying Ovaherero with
arms, attacked Tjamuaha and Maharero at Otjosemba. Even Hahn lost his cattle. In 1854
Jonker Afrikaner settled at Tjamuaha’s Okahandja settlement, at the site where the
Rhenish Missionary Society’s church would be built in 1875, in order to gain better
control over the Ovaherero. Jonker’s raids into Hereroland led even Ovaherero to flee
from places like Otjitambi and Otavi into the Kaokoveld. In 1856 ||Oaseb of the Kai||khaun
attacked with Hendrik Henricks of the ||Hawoben, the Ovaherero leader Ua Tjirue Tjamuaha,
without any success. On 09.01.1858, during the Hoachanas Peace Accord, Jan and Piet
Kopervoet, sons of Ua Tjirwe Tjamuaha, were signatories to the treaty. In
1860, Tjamuaha undertook a journey to Kaokoland in attempt to unite the Ovaherero against
the Orlam Afrikaners. Ua Tjirwe Tjamuaha died in December 1861 in Okahandja. His successor
was Maharero (Kamaharero) (1862-1890).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Mother: Tjiputa ua Ngombo
Father: Tjirwe ua Mutjise
Raw Data: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002222
Tjavara, Paulus U, Ovaherero (Ovahimba) Chief
*
---
Ombara (traditional title) Ovahimba Chief Paulus U Tjavara is the current
Chief of the Otjikaoko Traditional Authority, since 1996.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovahimba - 1996-
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000616
Tjetjo, Kandji, Ovaherero Chief
[Tjetjoo Alternative spelling]
*
+ September 1904 near the Bechuanaland border
---
Kandji Tjetjo from Owikokorero was an important Ovaherero Chief. He was one of the
adversaries of Samuel Maharero. Samuel Maharero's recognition by
the German authorities as supreme Ovaherero leader in August 1891 was not accepted by
other Ovaherero leaders, such as Manasse Tyiseseta of Omaruru, Kandji Tjetjo of
Owikokorero and the Ovambanderu leader Kahimemua Nguvauva, as well as Riarua,
Maharero’s former advisor. In April 1894 Ovaherero Chief Kambazembi of the Waterberg
attempted to reconcile Nikodemus Kavikunua and Chief Riarua with Samuel Maharero. He was
not successful. Riarua in alliance with Kandji Tjetjo even raided Samuel’s cattle
posts. In August/September 1899 Kandji Tjetjo (together with his son
Traugott) was attacked by the Germans because he refused to hand over his arms. He
participated in the German-Namibian War of 1904. On 11.02.1904, when Theodor Leutwein
returned to the central parts of SWA from the south, he divided the
German troops into four sections: a western section under Von Estorff tasked to advance
via Omaruru, a main section under Leutwein tasked to attack Samuel Maharero who was
probably at Otjosonjati at this time (Königs-Albertshöhe) in the upper Swakop valley,
Major von Glasenapp’s eastern section tasked to attack Kandji Tjetjo in the east and
Lieutenant Gygas’ section tasked to attack the Otjimbingwe Ovaherero. On 11.03.1904
Leutwein reported that Samuel Maharero was positioned along the line of Otjosazu, Okatumba
at the Swakop River and Katjapia (with ±1 000 rifles); that Chief Michael Tyiseseta was
moving from the Etjo Mountains in an eastward direction (with ±500 rifles); that the
Tjetjo community had retreated from Kehoro at the Black Nossob River in the direction of
the Onjati Mountains (with ±1 000 rifles); and that more Ovaherero under the command of
Zeraua (with ±1 000 rifles) could be found in the area of Otjimbingwe at the Sney
River, and at Lievenberg and Oruware at the Swakop River. On 12.03. Von Glasenapp’s
unit marched along the Epukiro omuramba (fossil river) via Kanduwe, and Von Winkler
along the Black Nossob River to Onjatu where the Germans pursued the Ovaherero under the
command of Tjetjo. One day later the battle of Owikokorero was fought between Von
Glasenapp and the Ovaherero under Tjetjo, with heavy losses for the Germans (total losses
are nearly 70%: seven officers are killed, three wounded and 19 soldiers killed, three
wounded). On 03.04.1904 Kandji Tjetjo met the Germans in a battle at a site between
Okaharui and Otjikuara, with heavy losses on both sides. In September 1904, after the
Waterberg Battle of August, the fleeing Ovaherero assembled at Okahandja North between the
Omatako omuramba and the Eiseb omuramba. They fled further via Otjinene,
Epata, Osombo-Windimbe (Ozombo ja Windimba) and Erindi-Ombahe, following the course of the
Eiseb omuramba. Zacharias Zeraua from Otjimbingwe reported later that the chiefs
Samuel Maharero from Okahandja, Banjo from Otjombonde, David and Salatiel Kambazembi from
Waterberg, Ouandja from Otjikururume, Kayata from Otjihaenena, Michael Tyiseseta from
Omaruru, Katjahingi and Assa Riarua had all assembled at Osombo Onjatu at the Eiseb omuramba.
The chiefs Mambo and Kandji Tjetjo were also at the Eiseb omuramba, at the
waterholes Otjinene and Epata. On 02.09.1904 Von Estorff’s forces attacked
Owinauanaua, dislodging the chiefs Mambo and Kandji Tjetjo and forcing them to flee
eastwards in the direction of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Kandji Tjetjo died of thirst
at Oruaromunjo and Mambo died of exhaustion while following Tjetjo.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:101, 111, 127-128, 198, 344; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
001891
Tjetjo, Traugott, Ovaherero Chief
[Tjetjoo Alternative spelling]
* in Namibia
---
Traugott Tjetjo was an important Ovaherero Chief. He was the son of Kandji Tjetjo. In August/September 1899 Kandji Tjetjo (together with his son
Traugott) was attacked by the Germans because he refused to hand over his arms. He
participated in the German-Namibian War of 1904.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: Kandji Tjetjo
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:127-128, 198, 248; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002198
Tjihahu, Ovaherero Chief
*
+
---
Ovaherero Chief Tjihahu was the father of Chief Tjoro. His
grandson, Chief Katjari (Chief of the Otjirungu group under the leadership of John Samuel
Aron Mungunda from Otjombuindja in the Ozongoto area, son of Chief Tjoro, son of Chief
Tjihahu) took a defiant attitude against the strong social influence exercised by the
Rhenish missionaries in Otjikango.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovaherero - before 1830
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000036
Tjipahura, Kaleb Hanganee
[Tjipuahura, Kaleb - alternative spelling]
* in Botswana
+ 10.04.1987 at Windhoek
---
Kaleb Hanganee Tjipahura was born in Botswana as son of Ovaherero exiled in 1904. He
joined SWAPO in 1962, went into exile for military training, and returned to Namibia. He
was captured by South African forces in 1966. He was charged in mid-1967 under the
Terrorism Act. He was tried with other Namibian in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from
September 1967 to February 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.
He was released in 1985. He died at Windhoek on 10.04.1987 from complications of kidney
ailments he contracted through his imprisonment.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/15 (Prison file)
RAW DATA: Obituary: The Namibian 22.5.1987;
002191
Tjirwe ua Mutjise, Ovaherero Chief
*
+
---
Setting out from the Kaokoveld, Ovaherero leader Tjirwe ua
Mutjise, son of Mutjise, son of Mbunga, son of Tjituka, son
of Kasupi, son of Vatje, son of Kengeza of the oruzo orwohorongo
(community or clan, also religious group from the father’s side, while eanda
is a socio-economic group to which the mother belongs), moved to Okahandja (probably after
1785). His successor was Ua Tjirwe Tjamuaha (ca. 1840-1861).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovaherero - after 1750
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
00267
Tjitendero , Mosé Penaani
* 25.12.1943 at Okahandja
Mosé Penaani Tjitendero was born on 25.12.1943 at Okahandja. He was educated at Otjizonyati, the Rhenish Mission Primary School, Okahandja and the Bulskop Primary School at Ovitoto. He visited the Augustineum Training College, Okahandja from 1961 until 1962. He was expelled from the Augustineum in Okahandja in 1963 after attending a political rally in Windhoek. He went to work at Olivier & Co., replacing Peter Katjavivi. With 12 others Tjitendero formed a social club known as the "White Coats" (tabula rasa) where they plotted to leave the country and come back one day wearing black academic gowns. He left Namibia 1964 after a SWANLIF rally through Aminuis to Francistown in Botswana. With about 80 others he hired a truck but was refused entry by British border guards. He was helped by Zambian UNIP officials, "it was our first taste of freedom, a black man confronting a white man". He was put up at the UNIP guest house at Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia), caught a train to Broken Hill (Kabwe) and from there to Tanzania by bus, arriving there some three months later. Immediately he was appointed as Student Representative in Dar-es-Salaam and started broadcasting on the Tanzanian external service. He obtained the O and A Levels at Dar-es-Salaam. As student representative he travelled extensively throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. He was the elected Secretary for SWA Affairs of the first SWA National Students Union (later NANSO) in Sweden - a short-lived joint venture by SWANU and SWAPO students. He returned to Tanzania with scholarship offers and opted to go to the USA. There he obtained his BA (History, Political Science) from the Lincoln University from 1967 until 1970, his MA (History) from the University of Massachusetts in 1972 and the Ph.-D. (Education, Psychology, Sociology) from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. After an Internship UNESCO, Paris in 1974, he received a Diploma in International and Comparative Human Rights Law from the University of Strasbourg in 1974. He was recalled to Lusaka in 1975 by SWAPO President Sam Nujoma and Hidipo Hamutenya to open the UN Institute for Namibia (UNIN) in Lusaka. Under the slogan "Let there be an institute" he started to work as Senior Education Lecturer from 1976 to 1982. He was an elected Member of the Central Committee for Educational Institutions 1981 and 1982 set up by UNIN's UNESCO-sponsored Teacher's Training Programme (Head: from 1982 to 1988). He was the Director of the UN Vocational Training Centre in Sumbe (Angola) from 1988 to 1989. He returned to Namibia with the advent of the implementation of the UN SC Resolution 435 in 1989 and became the Regional Head in the SWAPO Election Directorate in Otjiwarongo. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly and National Assembly (until the present date). He became Speaker of the National Assembly from March 1990 until the present date. He is married to Saundra Parr from the United States of America.
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Married to: Saundra Parr (USA)
Collections/Papers:
1). Namibia Handbook and Political Who's Who, 1990 (Pütz, Von Egidy and Caplan)
2). Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
002188
Tjituka, Ovaherero Chief
*
+
---
Setting out from the Kaokoveld, Ovaherero leader Mutjise, son of Mbunga,
son of Tjituka, son of Kasupi, son of Vatje, son of
Kengeza of the oruzo orwohorongo (community or clan, also religious group from the
father’s side, while eanda is a socio-economic group to which the mother
belongs), moved to Okahandja (probably after 1785). He was followed by Ovaherero Chief Mbunga.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovaherero - before 1750
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000504
Tjizemba
*
---
Tjizemba was a high-ranking official at Ondonga King Nangolo's court.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000266
Tjongarero, Daniel K.J. ("Danny")
* .1947 in Namibia
+ 23.04.1997 at Windhoek
---
Daniel (Danny) Tjongarero was born in 1947. He was educated at a Lutheran mission school.
He graduated 1973 at the University of the North, Turfloop (South Africa). He was the
editor of the Lutheran church magazine "Immanuel". Later he was working for the
Council of Churches in Namibia. He was a SWAPO member since 1975 and National
Vice-Chairman of SWAPO since 1977. He acted as a spokesperson for the internal wing of
SWAPO. He was repeatedly jailed and tortured by the South African regime. He was elected
to the Constituent Assembly and the National Assembly (until 1995). He was appointed as
the Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting from March 1990 until December 1995
when he became the Managing Director of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation. He kept this
position until his death from kidney failure on 23.04.1997.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Married to: Agnes Tjongarero
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002197
Tjoro, Ovaherero Chief
*
+
---
Ovaherero Chief Tjoro was the father of Chief Katjari. Katjari
(Chief of the Otjirungu group under the leadership of John Samuel Aron Mungunda from
Otjombuindja in the Ozongoto area, son of Chief Tjoro, son of Chief Tjihahu) took a
defiant attitude against the strong social influence exercised by the Rhenish missionaries
in Otjikango.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovaherero - before 1840
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001888
Tönjes, Hermann
* 04.06.1871 at Remscheid, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1989
Last departure from Namibia: 1908
---
Hermann Tönjes was born on 04.06.1871 at Remscheid in Germany. He was a missionary of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1898. He was stationed at Namakunde
in the Uukwanyama area of Ovamboland (now in Angola). He left Namibia in 1908. He was
married to Anna Tönjes, née Rautanen.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Anna Tönjes, née Rautanen
Namibia National Archives Database
000311
Todd, James
*
+ .1878 at Kavango
---
James Todd was a hunter and trader who came to Namibia as one of the copper prospectors in
ca. 1855. In the 1860s, he was fitted out by Charles John Andersson as elephant hunter,
but later worked for Eriksson. Although Todd had a Ovaherero wife, he does not seem to
have respected the Ovaherero, or orders by Chief Maharero. He was murdered by his own
servants at the Okavango in 1878.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
001887
Todt
* in Germany
---
Todt was the Bezirksamtmann of Windhoek in 1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
000268
Toivo Ya Toivo, Andimba
[Ya Toivo, Hermann]
* 22.08.1924 at Omangundu
---
Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo was born on 22.08.1924 at Omangundu, near
Ondangwa. Later he attended the Omangundu primary School and the primary school at Onayena. Between 1939 and 1942 Andimba attended the
Vocational Training School at Ongwediva. He fought on the British side in World War Two.
In 1950 he obtained a teaching diploma at the St Mary School at Odibo. Toivo taught
at St. Cuthbert's, Onamutayi and St. Mary's Odibo.
Toivo worked as a railway police officer in Cape Town, 1952-1953. Toivo was involved in politics since 1954. He joined the African National Congress at Cape Town in 1957. He was a founder member of the Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC) (02.08.157)(in formal terms the OPC was never constituted), forerunner of the Ovamboland People's Organisation (OPO), subsequent SWAPO. Among the founding members of the OPC were Simon "Mzee" Kaukungua, Eliazer Tuhadeleni (Kaxumba kaNdola), Peter Hilinganye Mweshihange, Solomon Mifima, Maxton Joseph Mutongulume, Jariretundu Kozonguizi, Emil Appolus, Andreas Shipanga, Ottiliè Schimming and Kenneth Abrahams. Toivo met during this time Cape Town based South African socialists and liberals such as Brian Bunting, Sam Khan, Fred Carneson, Solly Sachs, Jack Simons, Patrick Duncan and Randolph Vigne. He also established close contacts with the two South African parties the Congress of Democrats (COD) and the Liberal Party.
In December 1958 Herman Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo succeeded in sending a petition to the United Nations, with the assistance of Mburumba Kerina and Michael Scott. Consequently he was deported from Cape Town, first to Keetmanshoop and Windhoek and later to Ovamboland, where he was placed under house arrest in his home village Oniipa. On the way from Cape Town to Keetmanshoop, Toivo was accompanied by Jariretundu Kozonguizi. In Keetmanshoop they entered into discussions with a newly formed organisation, the Society for the Advancement of the African People in South West Africa (SAAPSWA). They tried to persuade the SAAPSWA leader Philip Musirika to launch a new party, the Namaland People’s Congress, but nothing came of it.
Toivo, although a member of the Anglican Church, stayed in constant, close contact with Leonard Auala from the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC). Because of OPO’s (later SWAPO’s) deep roots in the Ovambo people, ELOC subsequently gave its support to this national liberation movement. Members and supporters of SWAPO were also members of the congregation. The people, church and national liberation movement coincided. The OPO’s reconstitution as SWAPO in 1960 was triggered by national leaders such as Sam Nujoma, Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, Mburumba Kerina, Jacob Kuhangua, Solomon Mifima, Paul Helmuth, Andreas Shipanga, Erasmus Erastus Mbumba, Emil Appolus, Maxton Joseph Mutongulume and Carlos Hamatui. South Africa immediately labelled SWAPO a "communist" organisation, but in terms of its policy objectives and conduct, SWAPO could in truth only be labelled a "nationalist movement".
With the beginning of SWAPO's armed struggle against the South African administration in March 1965, the first group of the SWA Liberation Army (SWALA) under the command of Peter Nanyemba, Tobias Hainjeko and John Otto Nankudhu left the Kongwa military training camp in Tanzania and moved to Nakonde in Zambia. From there they moved via Lusaka to Sesheke at the border to the Caprivi Strip. From Katima Mulilo they moved into Namibia and split up into several sub-groups. The sub-group headed by Patrick Iyambo (Lungada) moved to the homestead of Eliazer Tuhadeleni (Kaxumba kaNdola) at Endola in the Uukwanyama area where it later met the second sub-group. Tuhadeleni briefed SWAPO’s leaders including Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, Joseph Matheus, Ben Amathila, Erastus Mbumba, Lot Homateni, Lamek Iithete and others. After their consultations with the SWAPO leadership, the group split up again for political mobilisation.
On 26.08.1966 SWAPO proclaimed officially the armed struggle for the liberation of SWA after the first SWAPO soldiers had completed their training. The first military clashes between NAPLA and SA troops occurred near the northern border with Angola (Omugulu-gOmbashe). In the mean time a further unarmed group under the command of Leonard Phillemon Shuuya (Castro) had run into a South African ambush in the Kavango. Only Julius Israel Shilongo (Kashuku) escaped and reported the incidents. Shilongo was hidden in the house of Erastus Mbumba. Phillemon, however, was converted by the South Africans and participated in the battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on the South African side. After the Commander Johannes John Otto Nankudhu realised that he could not withstand the superior South African fire power, he ordered the NAPLA unit to retreat. Many NAPLA soldiers died, were wounded or taken prisoner by the South Africans. Eliazer Tuhadeleni (Kaxumba kaNdola) escaped and was not arrested until March 1967 when he was captured at Okaloko near Ondangwa.
On 07.09.1966 Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, SWAPO’s secretary at Ondangwa, and 44 other prominent SWAPO members were detained and later tried and imprisoned on Robben Island ("Terrorism Trial": The State vs. Tuhadeleni and Others). Some of those arrested were detained without trial for over a year, or until the passing of the Terrorism Act, No. 83 of 1967, which was made retroactive to 27.06.1962. Among the arrested SWAPO members were Immanuel Gottlieb Nathaniel "Maxuilili" (restricted to house arrest until 1985), Eliazer Tuhadeleni, Axel Johannes and John Ya Otto (some were arrested in December). Even Sam Nujoma’s father, who was already over 70 years old, Daniel Utoni Nujoma, and whose sole "crime" was being Nujoma's father, was arrested at the Okahao Hospital and sent to Pretoria prison. There he developed tuberculosis from which he later died. On 26.01.1968 Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Pretoria Supreme Court (after he was held in solitary confinement in Pretoria for more than a year before the sentence) and was incarcerated on Robben Island near Cape Town. The speech he made on behalf of his group after his conviction gained renown for its pronouncements denying SA the right to try SWA citizens or to rule their country (10.02.). His speech from the dock made headlines and became an internationally circulated key document to rally support for the Namibian liberation struggle. Ephraim Kamati Andjengo Kapolo died during the trial in Pretoria. The trialists were inter alia: Eliazer Tuhadeleni, John Otto Nankudhu (sentenced to life imprisonment), Simeon Shihungileni, Julius Israel Shilongo (Kashuku), Lazarus Zachariah (Shakala)(arrested on 16.04.1966 at Nkurenkuru and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment), David Hamunime (Kengoya), Joseph Shimuefeleni, Helao Shityuwete (arrested on 26.03.1966 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment), Eino Kamati Ekandjo, Festus Nehale, Nghidipo Jesaja Haufiku (Kambwa), Immanuel Augustus Shifidi, Kaleb Hanganee Tjipahura, Rudolf Kadhikwa, Abel Shuudeni Haluteni, Betuel Nunjango, Michael Ifingilwa Moses, Matias Elia Nashidengo (Kanyeule), Malakia Shivute Ushona, Johannes Samuel Shiponeni, Petrus Kamati, Immanuel Gottlieb "Maxuilili" Nathaniel, John Ya Otto, Jason Daniel Mutumbulwa, Joseph Matheus, Jonas Nashivela, Nathanael Lot Homateni, Phillemon Kakwalindishi Shitilifa, Simeon Namunganga Hamulemo, Shinima Niilenge (Harakatyi), Petrus Sinima Niilenge, Ndjaula Tshaningua (Manghono), Sakeus Phillipus Iitika (Oshivela), Simeon Ipinge Iputa, Naftalie Amungulu (Kombadjele), and Rehabeam Olavi Nambinga. Joseph Shimuefeleni and Festus Nehale died later of negligence and mistreatment on Robben Island. Altogether 62 Namibian prisoners spent many years of hardship on Robben Island. Toivo served 16 of the 20 years.
On 01.03.1984 he was released from
Robben Island. After a brief stay in Namibia he left for Lusaka (together with Hendrik
Witbooi, Danny Tjongarero, Niko Bessinger and Crispin Matongo). Toivo became
a member of the SWAPO Central Committee and Politburo. He was elected as SWAPO
Secretary-General 1984-1991. He was elected as Member of the Constituent Assembly in 1989.
At independence, Toivo was appointed as Minister of Mines and Energy until 26.03.1999. He
was Minister of Labour from 1999-2000. Toivo became Minister of Prisons and Correctional
Services on 21.03.2000- .
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: Ehrenstein-Ya Toivo, née Ehrenstein
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/28 (Prison file)
2). Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
000312
Tolonen, Karl Leonhard
*
---
Karl Leonhard Tolonen was a Finnish missionary who landed at Walvis Bay together with five
other Finnish missionaries (inter alia Martti Rautanen and Botolf Bernhard Björklund) and
three mission assistants on 14.02.1869. When the others left for Ovamboland on 27.05.1870
after having received training from Carl Hugo Hahn at Otjimbingwe, Tolonen, because he was
the most proficient in the Otjiherero language, remained behind at Otjimbingwe to take
Hahn's place while he was absent. He followed the other Finnish missionaries at a later
stage, and in mid-1871 was granted permission by Uukwanyama King Mweshipandeka sha
Shaningika to build a house in the Uukwanyama area. As he was not as well received as had
been expected, he returned to Ondonga in October the same year. Two similar incidents
occurred during 1872. In January 1876, he returned to Finland for personal reasons.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
002217
Tom, Vita, Ovaherero (Ovahimba) Chief
[Oorlog - alternative name]
* 15.06.1863 at Otjimbingwe
+ 22.06.1937 near Okahao (Ongandjera area)
---
Vita Tom, also called "Chief Oorlog", was born on 15.06.1863 during the Battle
of Otjimbingwe. He was related to Christian Wilhelm Zeraua and
Manasse Tyiseseta of Omaruru (Omukweyuva-eanda: mother of Vita was Kaitundu,
daughter of the sister of Manasse and the father was Tom Bechuana or Tom Botswana
originating from Bechuanaland). He became a commando leader in Kaokoland following the
raids of the Swartbooi and Topnaar. In 1871 Axel Wilhelm Eriksson, Tom Bechuana and Vita
Tom visited King Mweshipandeka sha Shaningika of the Uukwanyama area in Ondjiva
(present-day Angola). In 1881 the Dorsland-Trekkers crossed the Kunene River
at Swartbooisdrift and moved into Angola. In Humpata and Neves, Tom Bechuana and Vita Tom
joined the Dorsland-Trekkers. He stayed in Angola and during the German
Ovaherero War 1904-1908 when many Ovaherero sought refuge with him. For instance, at the
end of 1904 some Ovaherero including Haingombe, Wilhelm Katjisume, Thomas Mutate and
Martin Kazerewi escaped into Angola, where they joined Vita Tom. Later the Okahandja
Ovaherero preferred the leadership of Salatiel Kambazembi who temporarily also had joined
Vita. In June 1909 a Portuguese military expedition under the leadership of Joao de
Almeida moved from Angola against the Kavango. This expedition was accompanied by Vita
Tom. Some Ovaherero fugitives from Bechuanaland joined Vita during this time. During the
First World War, in December 1914, German troops under Major Franke attacked Naulila in
Angola and defeated the Portuguese troops. Franke was wounded and Georg Trainer took over
command. After the battle some prisoners of war were executed. Vita Tom also took part on
the Portuguese side. He was able to escape. During September 1915 Vita Tom fought on the
Portuguese side against King Mandume ya Ndemufayo of the Uukwanyama area. In 1916 Vita Tom
("Chief Oorlog") moved through the Ombuku and Omuhonga Rivers to Okonguati and
Otjiyandjasemo in the Kaokoveld where he met Ovatjimba Chief Kasupi at Ombepera. He
returned the same year to Angola. Vita returned finally from Angola in 1917. He was
accompanied by Edward Tjipepa (his brother), Martin Tjiheura, Moses Ndjai, Paul Zakekua,
Wilhelm Tjireye, Ngairo Muhenye Gabriel Cabrito, Joel Kapi, Vetamuna Tjambiru, George
Hartley and Adrian Karipose. Vita settled permanently at Otjiyandjasemo, south-west of
present-day Okonguati. He was supported by Ovatjimba Chief Kasupi from Ombepera. Tensions
built up, however, with the Ovahimba Chief Muhona Katiti. The South African authorities
(SA Police at Cauas Okawa) tried to mediate between Vita and Muhona. On 06.06.1917 Tom
Vita was called to Windhoek and met SA Colonel MJ de Jager in order to find a solution for
the various Kaokoland conflicts. This led later to an expedition to investigate affairs in
the Kaokoveld under the command of the Native Resident Commissioner Charles N Manning. On
24.08.1917 Charles Manning mediated between Vita Tom and Ovahimba Chief Muhona Katiti in
Otazuma in the vicinity of Otjivero in the Kaokoveld. Consequently Muhona moved his
residence to Epembe at the Ondoto River. During June 1919, new disputes between Vita Tom
and Ovahimba Chief Muhona Katiti arose. They resulted in Charles Manning’s new visit
to the Kaokoveld. At this time Vita lived no longer at Otjiyandjasemo but in Ongongo at
the Hoarusib River. After Manning had also visited Muhona and the Ovatjimba leader Kasupi,
he met Vita at Kaoko Otavi. Manning accepted that among the Kaokoland communities Vita was
the strongest leader. In 1920 Vita Tom decided to return from Ongongo at the Hoarusib
River and to settle permanently at Otjiyandjasemo. In April 1923 new disputes between Vita
Tom and Ovahimba Chief Muhona Katiti occurred. They led, as requested by Carl (Cocky)
Hahn, Resident Commissioner of Ovamboland, to the third visit by Charles Manning to the
Kaokoveld, meanwhile Magistrate of Rehoboth. As a result of this visit, Manning
recommended dividing the northern Kaokoveld into three tribal areas: Muhona Katiti was
given Ondoto, Epembe, Ovikange and Ehomba and Tom Vita the areas west of Epembe with
Otjitanga, Hamalemba, Omangete, Ombakaha and Otjiyandjasemo. The Ovatjimba Chief Kasupi
who had died in the mean time, was succeeded by Kahewa-Nawa, who received the areas around
Ombepera. On 13.04.1923 "Cocky" Hahn met Vita for the first time. Hahn wrote
about this meeting "He is a fine looking old native with excellent manners and
personality." In September 1925 Vita Tom received Deneys Reitz in Otjiyandjasemo.
There was some political stirring in the Kaokoveld because some Ovaherero moved from Outjo
northwards. The headmen of this group were Langman Tjihahura, Jonas Tjivikwa, Hiaukambe
Turitijo and Johannes Muzuma. The group settled at Okawao, Otjohaka, Omawatinda, Onaiso,
Otjikuvare and Otjomumborombonga. The fluid situation was furthermore intensified by an
internal power struggle between Ovatjimba Chief Kahewa-Nawa and his nephew Weripaka. This
resulted in Kahewa-Nawa’s followers seeking support from Chief Tom Vita. During July
1936 and following the visit of Administrator Conradie to the Kaokoveld and also due to
the weakening health of Chief Vita Tom, a Tribal Council (Ombongarero yomuhoko) was
created at Okorosave in the Kaokoveld. Before this the Kaokoveld resorted under the Native
Commissioner of Ovamboland. The Council recognised the two main chiefs, Vita and Karuvapa.
The Ovaherero were represented by Moses Ndjai, Wilhelm Tjireye, Edward Tjipepa, George
Hartley, Martin Tjiheura, Langman Tjihahura, Ludwig Tjitambo, Palminus M’gandje and
Johannes Muzuma. The delegates for the Ovahimba and Ovatjimba were the chiefs Tjiparapara,
Muzire, Marukwavi, Katje, Youruruka Tjirambo, Mumbombaro Kurama, Kwenda Kutanga, Kazungama
Witahura Yapapu Ohupa, Kaimuvaza Mbunguho and Twazapu Musaso. In Ohopoho (later Opuwo) an
office was created for the Council. The name "Ohopoho" (Otjiherero: It is
enough) was coined by Carl (Cocky) Hahn, Native Commissioner in Ovamboland. The locals
called the place Otjihinamaparero, also Otjitoporwa (Otjiherero: The first borehole in the
area). On 22.06.1937 Vita Tom died near Okahao (Ongandjera area). His successor was Moses
Ndjai from Okorosave.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: Tom Bechuana
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001190
Tostensen, Arne
*
---
Arne Tostensen was a Professor at the Nordic Africa Institute at Uppsala in Sweden. He has
conducted extensive research on the role of Namibia in the political economy of southern
Africa before independence.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SOC
Profession: Social scientist
Namibia National Archives Database
001189
Toetemeyer, Hans-Günther
* 25.01.1930 at Keetmanshoop
---
Hans-Günther Toetemeyer was born on 25.01.1930 at Keetmanshoop. He received his schooling
in Gelsenkirchen. He studied at the University Bonn from 1951 to 1956, then teaching in
Köln. From 1972 to 1983 he was a municipal official for education, culture and sport in
Hagen in Germany. He joined Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1963. From 1966 to 1975 he
was a member of the state parliament (Landtag) in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Since 1983 he was a
member of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
RAW DATA: Kürschners Deutscher Bundestag 1983;
001889
Toetemeyer, Hermann
* .1900 in Germany
---
Hermann Toetemeyer was born in 1900 in Germany. He was a missionary of the Rheinische
Missionsgesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001890
Tötterman, Carl Gustav
*
---
Carl Gustav Tötterman was a Finnish missionary.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001191
Trainer, Hauptmann
* in Germany
---
Hauptmann Trainer served in the Schutztruppe from February 1904 until 1915. For some time
he served as Adjutant of Major Franke. After the Schutztruppe surrender in 1915, he was a
liaison officer for the Schutztruppe. He was repatriated to Germany 1919.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Schutztruppe officer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.315 (Correspondence of Trainer with German and South African military
authorities re personnel questions of the Schutztruppe)
001687
Trenk, Walter
* 29.05.1877
+ 15.07.1918
---
Walter Trenk was born on 29.05.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He published several
articles on his exploration travels in the Namib. He died on 15.07.1918.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:196, 219, 222;
001892
Trey, Bernhard
* 09.02.1881 at Weener/Ostfriesland, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1909
---
Bernhard Trey was born on 09.02.1881 at Weener/Ostfriesland in Germany. He was a
missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1909 and was
stationed in Outjo.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Anna (Aenne) Trey, née Jung, married 1911-
Namibia National Archives Database
001688
Trommsdorff, Friedrich, Dr.
* 18.11.1872
+ 17.01.1933
---
Friedrich Trommsdorff was born on 18.11.1872. He was a Schutztruppe medical officer. He
published about San arrow poison. He died on 17.01.1933.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL MED
Profession: Military officer Medical practitioner
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:223;
001192
Tromp, Philippus Johannes de Witt
* 20.02.1925 at Fraserburg District, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1944
---
Philippus Johannes de Witt Tromp was born on 20.02.1925 at Fraserburg District in South
Africa. He was educated at the Cannan High School, Karos in South Africa. He came to
Namibia in 1944. He was a businessman with widespread interests, Director of Nictus
(Edms.) Bpk. and related companies, Landswyd Beleggings Bpk., Rehoboth Beleggings- en
Ontwikkelingskorporasie, P.J. de W. Tromp en Seuns (Edms) Bpk., Pro-Fidei Beleggings Bpk.,
Sentrakoop Handelaars Bpk., and others. He was the Chairperson of TS Nywerhede (Edms) Bpk.
He was a Member of the Broederbond. He was married to Hester Magdalena Tromp, née Myburgh
in 1947.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Hester Magdalena Tromp, née Myburgh, married 1947-
Father: Nicolaas Cornelius Tromp
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974; Wilkins/Strydom;
000609
Troost, Edmund
*
---
Edmund Troost was a lieutenant of the Schutztruppe, and also a trained artist. Troost
participated in the campaign against Hendrik Witbooi in the Naukluft 1894, but apparently
left the military service in 1896. He was a man of independent wealth, a considerable part
of which he consequently chose to spend on innovatory schemes, quite without any profit
motives, in Namibia. In 1904 he introduced diesel machines at his own cost. He also
designed a heavy duty steam desert vehicle for special application in the colony which he
introduced by 1895. Many of his ideas were never tried out, but dutifully filed by the
colonial administration. The famous "Martin Luther" locomotive outside
Swakopmund is a remnant of one of Troost's schemes.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Lenssen 1966:68,85,118,150;
001255
Trueman, Ken
* .1933 in England
---
Ken Trueman was born in 1933 in England. He was the General Manager of CDM from 1984
to 1987. He served on the Diamond Board for SWA and the Council of the Chamber of Mines of
SWA.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIN
Namibia National Archives Database
001193
Trümpelmann, Hans Dieter
* 25.02.1912 at Pretoria District, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 01.01.1965
---
Hans Dieter Trümpelmann was born on 25.02.1912 at Pretoria District in South Africa. He
was educated at the Afrikaans High School in Pretoria, and the Normal College in Pretoria.
He graduated from the Pretoria University. He came to Namibia in 1965. He was the Deputy
Director of Education of the SWA Administration from 1968 until 1970. He was the Director
of Education from 1971. He was married to Louise Magdalene Ruth Trümpelmann, née Johl in
1941.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Married to: Louise Magdalene Ruth Trümpelmann, née Johl, married 1941-
Father: Johannes Friedrich Theodor Trümpelmann
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
002311
Tsamkxao, #Oma, San Chief
*
+
---
#Oma Tsamkxao, ||'Aiha (traditional title), is the Chief
of the Ju|'hoansi Traditional Authority since 1990.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002168
Tsauxab gaib, ||Khau-|gôan Captain (Swartboois)
*
---
Tsauxab gaib was the second captain in the genealogy of the Swartbooi Nama. He was the son
of |Khanabeb. The precise dates could not be traced. Most probably he lived at a time,
when the ||Khau-|gôan were still part of the Kei||khaun community. He was followed
Manasse Swartbooi (#Haobeb Tsauxamab)(before 1800).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:252-253;
002161
Tsawúb Gamab, Kai||khaun Captain (Red Nation)
*
+ .1824
---
Tsawúb Gamab was the Captain of the Kai||khauan (Red Nation) from 1814 until 1824. He was
the eighth in the genealogy of the Kai||khaun. He was succeeded by !Na-khom Gamab
(1824-1840).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Captain - Kai||khaun (Red Nation) - 1814-1824
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001937
Tseib, Jonathan, Kharo-!oan Captain (Keetmanshoop Nama)
[Zeib, Jonathan - alternative spelling]
*
---
Jonathan Tseib was the Captain of the Keetmanshoop Nama (Kharo-!oan). The Kharo-!oan left
the Kai||kaun (Red Nation) in 1850. In 1859/60 Tseib was one of the Namaland Chiefs who
was an adversary to Jonker Afrikaner of the Orlam Afrikaners. The
political constellation as it consolidated itself in the late 1850s can be described as
follows: The chiefs ||Oaseb of the Kai||khaun, Amraal Lambert or #Gai|nub of the
Kai|khauan, Piet Koper !Gamab of the Fransman Nama or !Khara-khoen, Hendrik Henricks or
!Nanib gaib #Arisemab of the ||Hawoben and Jacobus Boois from Bethany supported Jonker
Afrikaner, while Willem Swartbooi or !Huiseb #Haobemab from Rehoboth, the chiefs from
Bethany (David Christian Frederiks) and Berseba and
later Kido Witbooi or #A-||êib from Gibeon, assisted by Captain Tseib from Keetmanshoop,
represented the anti-Jonker coalition. The Rhenish missionaries and European traders
greatly added to these polarisations of different Namibian groups. The intent was to
destroy Jonker’s nascent state structures in order to weaken any local political
power that might have resisted the missionaries’ objectives and later colonial
annexation. Jonker’s slogan: "Africa to Africans, but Namaland and Hereroland
to us" was a challenge which was not acceptable to the missionaries. In
1904 Tseib did not participate in the German-Nama War 1903-1913.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:67; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002260
Tshaanika shIipinge, Ovamboland (Ongandjera)
King
*
+ .1948
---
The twenty-second Ongandjera King was King Tshaanika shIipinge
(1936-1948). He followed King Sheya shaAmukwa (1930-1936). King Tshaanika shIipinge died
in 1948.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002258
Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo, Ovamboland
(Ongandjera) King
*
+ .1930
---
The twentieth Ongandjera King was Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo
(1887-1930). He followed King Iiyambo yIileka who was killed by Tshaanika in 1887. In
1890, at the invitation of King Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo, the Rhenish Missionary Society
sent out two missionaries, August Wulfhorst and Friedrich Meisenholl, to work in the
Ongandjera area in Ovamboland. On their way to Okahao they were stopped by King Negumbo of
the Uukwambi area. Thereafter they were invited by King Ueyulu ya Hedimbi to establish
mission stations in the Uukwanyama area instead (which they did in 1891). During the
German Ovaherero War 1904-1908 he gave refuge to some fleeing Ovaherero. For instance, in
September 1904 Daniel Kariko, the former group leader from Okombahe, fled to Tshaanika
Tsha Natshilongo. King Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo died in 1930. His successor was the 21st
Ongandjera King Sheya shaAmukwa (1930-1936).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002249
Tshaanika tsha Tshiimi, Ovamboland
(Ongandjera) King
*
+
---
The eleventh Ongandjera King on record was Tshaanika tsha Tshiimi.
He ruled before 1858. The first 14 Ongandjera kings cannot be dated. His successor was the
twelfth Ongandjera king Namatsi.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000037
Tshaningau, Njabula
* .1909
---
Njabula Tshaningau was born in 1909. He was charged under the Terrorism Act and tried with
other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment, reduced to 20 years on appeal. He was imprisoned on
Robben Island. He was the oldest of the Namibians on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
002256
Tsheya tsUutshona, Ovamboland (Ongandjera)
King
*
+ .1878
---
The eighteenth Ongandjera King was Tsheya tsUutshona who ruled from
1862 until 1878. He overpowered Queen Nakashwa in 1862. King Tsheya dies in 1878. He was
followed by the 19th King Iiyambo yIileka (1878-1887).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002285
Tshikesho, Ovamboland (Uukwambi)
King
*
+ .1860
---
The eleventh Uukwambi King on record was King Tshikesho (1860). He
followed King Iilonga yaNyango (around 1800). His successor was the twelfth Uukwambi King
Tshikongo (1860).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002289
Tshikesho tshEelu, Ovamboland (Uukwambi) King
*
+ .1863
---
The fifteenth Uukwambi King was King Tshikesho tshEelu (1863). King
Tshikesho tshEelu followed King Iipumbu ya Nangaku (1862-1863), but died in the same year.
He established his capital at Onambashu. He was followed by King Nuyoma
(1863-1875).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002286
Tshikongo, Ovamboland (Uukwambi)
King
*
+ around 1860
---
The twelfth Uukwambi King was King Tshikongo (1860). After the
death of the 11th Uukwambi King Tshikesho firstly Tshikongo and in the same year Nuyoma
wIipumbu (1860-1862) became the 12th resp. the 13th king of the Uukwambi area in
Ovamboland. Due to the frequent wars with the Ongandjera area, the Uukwambi area was
repeatedly devastated. Capital during this time was Iino.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000038
Tuhadeleni, Eliaser
[Kandola, Kahumba - given name]
[kaNdola, Kaxumba - alternative spelling]
*
+ .1997 at Windhoek
---
Eliaser Tuhadeleni was a SWAPO activist. He took part in the Battle of Omugulu-gOmbashe on
26.08.1966, evaded arrest but was eventually caught and sent to Pretoria Central Prison.
He was charged under the Terrorism Act. He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria
Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment on Robben Island. He died 1997 at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002173
Tuob |Khaoreb, #Aonin Captain (Topnaars)
[Jonas- European name (|hû-|ons)]
*
---
Tuob |Khaoreb (Jonas) was the Captain of the Topnaars (#Aonin). He was the fifth and last
captain on record in the genealogy of the captains of the #Aonin dynasty. Tuob died 1914.
1931 the #Aonin tried to re-establish a Captain, Samuel ||Haibeb, but this was not
confirmed by the South African authorities in Walvis Bay because there had been doubts
concerning Samuel's genealogy.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: ||Oases
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:245-246;
001194
Tworeck, Dörte
* at Swakopmund
---
Dörte Tworeck was born at Swakopmund. She was educated in South Africa. She was an artist
and worked for Ministry of Nature Conservation and Tourism and for the National Museum.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
Namibia National Archives Database
001186
Tyiseseta, Albertine
[Tyisesta - alternative name]
* in Namibia
+ 12.08.1951 at Omaruru
---
Albertine Tyiseseta was the wife of Ovaherero Chief Manasse Tyiseseta in Omaruru. She died
on 12.08.1951 at Omaruru.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Manasse Tyiseseta (-1898)
Father: Zeraua
Children: Michael Tyiseseta (-1923)
Hugo Tyiseseta
Charlotte Tyiseseta
Namibia National Archives Database
001187
Tyiseseta, Manasse, Ovaherero Chief
[Tyisesta - alternative name]
* 25.04.1850 at Otjimbingwe
+ 17.04.1898 at Omaruru
---
Manasse Tyiseseta was born at Otjimbingwe on 25.04.1850. He was trained at the Augustineum
in Otjimbingwe. He left, together with Christian Wilhelm Zeraua, Otjimbingwe in 1867 and
moved to Omaruru (Okonjose). Manasse taught at the school in Omaruru from 1871-1882. He
was the half-brother of Chief Tjaherani (ca. 1860-1884), and was elected Ovaherero Chief
of Omaruru after Tjaherani's death in 1884 (29.11.1876 after the death of Wilhelm Zeraua
according to other sources). Initially, he was a Christian and supported the missionaries,
but upon becoming Chief (1884-1898), he returned to the traditional religion. He was
married to one of Zeraua's daughters, Albertine. On 03.11.1885, a
protection treaty was concluded between Manasse and Göring in the presence of missionary
Büttner. In spite of this treaty Manasse managed to maintain a polity independent from
the Germans and Maharero. This independence was based on sound trade links with the Cape
Colony for arms and ammunition as well as a disciplined armed force. In the late 1880s,
following the arrival of German colonial forces in central SWA, Manasse Tyiseseta
continued to seek political independence. When Samuel Maharero was recognised by the
German authorities as supreme Ovaherero leader in August 1891, this was not accepted by
other Ovaherero leaders, such as Manasse Tyiseseta of Omaruru, Kandji Tjetjo of
Owikokorero and the Ovambanderu leader Kahimemua Nguvauva, as well as Riarua,
Maharero’s former advisor. On 29.11.1892 two mining engineers of the South West
Africa Company (SWAC), Rogers and Copeland, described a meeting with Manasse Tyiseseta
from Omaruru: "Manasse and his Raad continually ask if we were involved with
the Germans ... and I knew if he got in any way to understand that we were with the
Germans, we would go no further. [Manasse expressed:] This is our country! We are owners
of it. We do not want war. We are for peace. We have been cheated many times before; but
now our eyes are opened, and when once you could buy land with a bottle of whisky or a
suit of clothes, that time is all gone by." On 26.11.1894 Leutwein persuaded Samuel
Maharero and Zacharias Zeraua of Otjimbingwe to meet Manasse Tyiseseta at Omaruru to seek
agreement between the Ovaherero leaders. Leutwein’s demonstration of power led to the
downfall of Manasse’s independent position and to the establishment of a German
military garrison at Omaruru. During the rinderpest epidemic of 1897, Erich Victor Carl
August Franke reported that Manasse Tyiseseta of Omaruru refused to get his cattle
inoculated. He died of typhoid fever on 17.04.1898, and was buried next to
Wilhelm Zeraua in the old cemetery in Omaruru.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Married to: Albertina Tyiseseta
Children: Michael Tyiseseta (-1927)
Hugo Tyiseseta
Charlotte Tyiseseta
RAW DATA: Otto-Reiner 1991; Baumann 1967; Bourquin 1969; Chronology of Namibian History,
2003 (Dierks);
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001188
Tyiseseta, Michael, Ovaherero Chief
[Tyisesta - alternative name]
* at Omaruru
+ .1923 (1926 or 1927 according to other sources) at Krugersdorp, South Africa
---
Michael Tyiseseta was born at Omaruru. He was the eldest son of Chief Manasse Tyiseseta
and his wife Albertine. He succeeded his father upon Manasse's death in 1898. In November
1899 a quarrel broke out between Samuel Maharero and Michael
Tyiseseta of Omaruru. Theodor Leutwein intervened and explained that Samuel had no direct
authority over Michael’s people. On 17.01.1904, he left Omaruru to join
the war against the Germans. On 11.03.1904 Leutwein reported
that Samuel Maharero was positioned along the line of Otjosazu, Okatumba at the Swakop
River and Katjapia (with ±1 000 rifles); that Chief Michael Tyiseseta was moving from the
Etjo Mountains in an eastward direction (with ±500 rifles); that the Tjetjo community had
retreated from Kehoro at the Black Nossob River in the direction of the Onjati Mountains
(with ±1 000 rifles); and that more Ovaherero under the command of Zacharias Zeraua (with
±1 000 rifles) could be found in the area of Otjimbingwe at the Sney River, and at
Lievenberg and Oruware at the Swakop River. In July 1904 Samuel Maharero occupied the area
of Otjozondjupa and the Hamakari River, while Michael Tyiseseta concentrated his forces at
Omuveroume between the Little and Great Waterberg. Michael took part in the
Battle of Waterberg in August 1904. After the Waterberg Battle, the
Ovaherero assembled at Okahandja North between the Omatako omuramba and the Eiseb omuramba.
They fled further via Otjinene, Epata, Osombo-Windimbe (Ozombo ja Windimba) and
Erindi-Ombahe, following the course of the Eiseb omuramba. Zacharias Zeraua from
Otjimbingwe reported later that the chiefs Samuel Maharero from Okahandja, Banjo from
Otjombonde, David and Salatiel Kambazembi from Waterberg, Ouandja from Otjikururume,
Kayata from Otjihaenena, Michael Tyiseseta from Omaruru, Katjahingi and Assa Riarua had
all assembled at Osombo Onjatu at the Eiseb omuramba. In December 1904 Michael
Tyiseseta and nine followers escaped the Germans and Michael handed himself over to the
British authorities in Walvis Bay. From there he was brought by the German vessel
"Eduard Bohlen" to Cape Town in South Africa from where he was transferred to
the Witwatersrand in Transvaal. He became a kind of a foreman on the gold mines of the
Reef. He died 1923 (1926 (Prof. Schlosser) or 1927 to other sources) in Krugersdorp (South
Africa). His remains are to be transferred with military honours to the independent
Republic of Namibia in 2004 to be buried along his forefathers at Omaruru.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Mother: Albertine Tyiseseta
Father: Manasse Tyiseseta (-1898)
RAW DATA: Bourquin 1969; Drechsler 1966:165, 198, 356; Schwabe 1903:23; JBRMG 1903:23;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001893
Ueyulu ya Hedimbi, Ovamboland (Uukwanyama)
King
[Uejulu - alternative spelling]
[Weyulu - alternative spelling]
*
+ .1904
---
Ueyulu ya Hedimbi was the thirteenth King of the Uukwanyama area. He ruled from
1884 until 1904. He succeeded King Namadi yaMweihanyeka in 1884. In 1890, at the invitation of Ongandjera King Tshaanika Tsha Natshilongo, the Rhenish
Missionary Society sent out two missionaries, August Wulfhorst and Friedrich Meisenholl,
to work in the Ongandjera area in Ovamboland. On their way to Okahao they were stopped by
King Negumbo of the Uukwambi area. Thereafter they are invited by King Ueyulu ya Hedimbi
to establish mission stations in the Uukwanyama area instead (first station
was Ondjiva in present-day Angola in 1891). In October 1900 Erich
Victor Carl August Franke visited the Ovamboland Kings Kambonde kaMpingana of the Ondonga
area and Ueyulu ya Hedimbi of the Uukwanyama area. Uukwambi King Negumbo refused to allow
Franke to visit his territory and threatened the Germans with war. Franke reported about
growing native resistance against the activities of the Finnish missionaries. At the end
of 1902 Dr Gerber visited the Ovambo Kings Nehale and Kambonde kaMpingana, as well as King
Ueyulu ya Hedimbi of the Uukwanyama area and the mission station Ondjiva. Ueyulu
died in 1904. His successor was King Nande (1904-1911).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Raw Data: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002175
|Uixab, !Gomén Captain (Topnaar)
*
+
---
|Uixab was the Captain of the Topnaars (!Gomén) of Sesfontein before 1870. He was the
first captain in the genealogy of the !Gomén dynasty. No exact dates could be traced. He
was followed by Hendrik |Uixamab (Aniba-#nûb |Uixamab)(before 1880).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: Anibas
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:247-248;
002174
|Uixamab, Hendrik, !Gomén Captain (Topnaar)
[Uichamab, Hendrik - alternative spelling]
[Uchamab, Hendrik - alternative spelling]
[Aniba-#nûb |Uixamab - Nama name]
*
+
---
Hendrik |Uixamab (Aniba-#nûb |Uixamab) was the Captain of the Topnaars (!Gomén) of
Sesfontein before 1880. He was the second captain in the genealogy of the !Gomén dynasty.
No exact dates could be traced. He was followed by Jan |Uixamab (Aniba-#khami
|Uixamab)(before 1900).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:247-248;
001894
|Uixamab, Jan, !Gomén Captain (Topnaar)
[Uichamab, Jan - alternative spelling]
[Uchamab, Jan - alternative spelling]
[Aniba-#khami |Uixamab - Nama name]
* in Namibia
+ .1905 in Namibia
---
Jan |Uixamab (Aniba-#khami |Uixamab) was the Captain of the Topnaars (!Gomén) of
Sesfontein around 1885. He was the third captain in the genealogy of the !Gomén dynasty.
He sold communal land around Sesfontein in July 1885 to Adolf Lüderitz. |Uixamab died
1905 in German detention. He was followed by Levi |Uixamab (||Gaubeb Anibamap)(no dates
traced).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: ||Gaubes
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.374 (Treaty of 1898)
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:95, 113; Drechsler 1966:34, 125-126, 358; Budack 1972:247-248;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002176
|Uixamab, Levi, !Gomén Captain (Topnaar)
[Uichamab, Levi - alternative spelling]
[Uchamab, Levi - alternative spelling]
[||Gaubeb Anibamap - Nama name]
* in Namibia
+ in Namibia
---
Levi |Uixamab (||Gaubeb Anibamap) was the Captain of the Topnaars (!Gomén) of Sesfontein
after 1905. He was the fourth captain in the genealogy of the !Gomén dynasty. He was
followed by Nathanael |Uixamab (||Âbeb ||Gaubemab)(until 1941).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: <1>Kukus (Albertina)
<2>||Âbes (Katrina or Maria)
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:247-248;
002177
|Uixamab, Nathanael, !Gomén Captain (Topnaar)
[Uichamab, Nathanael - alternative spelling]
[Uchamab, Nathanael - alternative spelling]
[||Âbeb ||Gaubemab - Nama name]
* in Namibia
+ .1941 in Namibia
---
Nathanael |Uixamab (||Âbeb ||Gaubemab) was the Captain of the Topnaars (!Gomén) of
Sesfontein. He was the fifth captain in the genealogy of the !Gomén dynasty. Nathanael
died without children in 1941. He was followed by Benjamin Kido (Kulib Gâsemab).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: !Garos
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:247-248;
001895
Ujest, von, Herzog
*
---
Von Ujest invested in the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für Südwestafrika.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:41, 44;
000040
Ulenga, Benjamin Crispus
[Uulenga, Ben - alternative spelling]
*
---
Benjamin Crispus Ulenga was charged in Feb ruary1977 in Windhoek Supreme Court under the
Terrorism Act. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on Robben Island. He was released
in 1985. He was instrumental in re-building the trade unions movement within Namibia. He
was the Secretary-General of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia from 1986 until 1989. He was
elected into the Constitutional Assembly 1989 on the SWAPO List. He was a Member of the
National assembly from 1990 to 1996 (SWAPO) and from 2000 to date (CoD). He was appointed
as Deputy Minister of Tourism and Nature Conservation 1990-1995, Deputy Minister of Local
Government and Housing 1995-1996, then Ambassador (High Commissioner) to the United
Kingdom 1996-1998. He left SWAPO and established the "Forum for the Future"
between 1998 and 1999. Ulenga established a new political party "Congress of
Democrats (CoD) 1999-.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/3 (Prison file)
2). Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
001896
Ururua, Heinrich
*
+ .1907 in Namibia
---
Heinrich Ururua was an Otjiherero translator for missionary Laaf in Lüderitzbucht.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: JBRMG 106:22, 1907:22;
000039
Ushona, Malakia Shivute
*
---
Malakia Shivute Ushona was charged in mid-1967 under the Terrorism Act. He was tried with
other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/18 (Prison file)
002269
Uushona uEndjila, Ovamboland (Uukwaluudhi) King
*
+
---
The seventh Uukwaluudhi King on record was King Uushona uEndjila.
He followed King Niilenge ya Shipula. He ruled before 1850. The first seven Uukwaluudhi
kings cannot be dated. His successor was the eighth Uukwaluudhi King Shikongo shIipinge,
(ca. 1850-1902).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001196
Uys, Thomas Francois Theron
* 21.04.1906 at Lindley, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1947
---
Thomas Francois Theron Uys was born on 21.04.1906 at Lindley in South Africa. He was
educated at Windburg. He came to Namibia in 1947. He was the Provincial Manager in SWA for
the Standard Bank and President of Windhoek Rotary Club in 1954/55. He served on the
Regional SWA Red Cross Council and was the Vice-Chairperson of the SWA Rugby Board. He was
married to Sheila Uys, née Bromwich in 1932.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Banker
Married to: Sheila Uys, née Bromwich, married 1932-
Father: T.F.T. Uys
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000066
Vaatz, Marga
[Kock, Marga - maiden name]
* 21.07.1913
---
Marga Vaatz was born 21.07.1913 as daughter of the trader Johannes Kock. She received her
schooling in Windhoek and Swakopmund and studied in Cape Town. She lived in Germany from
19??-19?? and was active in the Südwester Landsmannschaft in Germany. She married Edgar
Vaatz in 1939. She farmed during WW Two. She was a Co-founder of the SWA Party. She
pioneered game farming, established the first hunting and guest farm in 1960. She
established the industry of Hardanger embroideries in Namibia. She was the author of two
books on life in Namibia. She was married to Edgar Vaatz in 1939.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI BUS POL
Married to: Edgar Vaatz, married 1939
Namibia National Archives Database
001197
Vageler, Paul W.E.
* 30.10.1882
---
Paul W.E. Vageler was born on 30.10.1882. He was an agricultural scientist. In 1910 he
became Privatdozent at the University Königsberg in East Prussia, Germany (now Russian
Federation). 1909 and 1911 he undertook expeditions in German East Africa as well as an
expedition to Namibia and Angola (?).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Scientist
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001198
Van As, Hendrik Muller
* 22.08.1917 at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 20.05.1945
---
Hendrik Muller van As was born on 22.08.1917 at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. He was
educated at the University College of the Orange Free State. He came to Namibia 1945. He
served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1961. He was married to Maria Jacoba
van As, née Labuschagne in 1945.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Married to: Maria Jacoba Van As, née Labuschagne, married 1945-
Father: Hendrik Muller Van As
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001199
Van Aswegen, J.P.A.
* 22.03.1893 at District Ventersdorp, South Africa
---
J.P.A. van Aswegen was born on 22.03.1893 at District Ventersdorp in South Africa. He
served as Director of Posts and Telecommunications, SWA Administration. He was married to
J.J. van Aswegen, née Greeff.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Married to: J.J. Van Aswegen, née Greeff
Mother:
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000740
Vanchend, Jan
[Van Gent, Jan - possible proper spelling]
*
---
Vanchend was apparently a trader. He appears in Hendrik Witbooi's "Debt Book" as
a creditor, 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Not traced in Table, Esterhuyse, Lenssen. - Could it be Schluckwerder?;
001200
Van der Merwe, Barnie
*
---
Barnie van der Merwe was an artist.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.336 (Private documents and collection of material)
001201
Van der Merwe, Hendrik Jacobus Stephanus
* 21.02.1908 at Transvaal, South Africa
---
Hendrik Jacobus Stephanus van der Merwe was born on 21.02.1908 at Transvaal in South
Africa. He was educated in Namibia and Cape Town. He underwent military service during
World War Two. He was a motor dealer. He was married to Irene May van der Merwe, née
Culloch in 1931.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Irene May Van der Merwe, née Culloch, married 1931-
Father: Hendrik Jacobus Stephanus Van der Merwe
Children:
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001202
Van der Merwe, Hendrik Willem
* 05.06.1905 at Wegdraai, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1923
---
Hendrik Willem van der Merwe was born on 05.06.1905 at Wegdraai in South Africa. He was
educated at Wegdraai and Upington in South Africa. He came to Namibia in 1923. He was a
businessman, owner of Grünau General Dealer, the Grünau Garage and the Grünau
Hotel. He was a farmer and karakul breeder. He was married to Christina Elizabeth
Susanna Willemina van der Merwe, née van Schalkwyk in 1932.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Christina Elizabeth Susanna Willemina Van der Merwe, née van Schalkwyk,
married 1932-
Father: Christoffel Johannes Van der Merwe
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000879
Van der Merwe, Paul Stefanus, Dr.
* 30.09.1922 at Lubango, Angola
First entry to Namibia: 1928
---
Paul Stefanus van der Merwe was born on 30.09.1922 at Lubango in Angola. He was the
descendant of the Dorslandtrekkers. He came with his family to Namibia with the Angola
Boer resettlement in the late 1920s. he studied at the University of South Africa (UNISA)
and the University of Pretoria. He graduated in political science at the University of
Pretoria and worked in the South African Departments of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs,
before he returned to Namibia and later settled in Otjiwarongo. He was the editor of
"Die Suidwester" between 1951 and 1958. He served i.a. as Senator for SWA and
Mayor of Otjiwarongo. He waqs a historian and wrote i.a. on the Dorslandtrekkers and
Otjiwarongo's local history. He served as President of the SWA Scientific Society, from
1955 to 1957. He was married to Ellen van der Merwe, née Jacobs in 1950.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM POL
Profession: Journalist Politician Administrator
Functions: Senator
Mayor - Otjiwarongo
President - SWA Scientific Society - 1955-1957
Editor - Die Suidwester - 1951-1958
Member - Federal Council of the National Party of S.A.
Member for Middelland, SWA - Parliament of South Africa
Married to: Ellen van der Merwe, née Jacobs, married 1950-
Father: P.J. van der Merwe
RAW DATA: Mitt.NWG 43,4-6; WWSA 1959 + 1974;
000778
Van der Ploeg, Archie
* 26.04.1939 at Bloemfontein, South Africa
+ 11.20.2000 in Namibia
First entry to Namibia: 1980
---
Archie van der Ploeg was born on 26.04.1939 at Bloemfontein in South Africa, where he
started his career as a self-taught artist and musician. He moved to Swakopmund in 1980
with his wife, and settled permanently in Namibia. He painted landscapes, often of the
Namib Desert.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
RAW DATA: Lilienthal: Art in Namibia, p.49;
001203
Van der Poel, Jacobus Daniel
* 24.09.1935 at Vereeniging, South Africa
---
Jacobus Daniel van der Poel was born on 24.09.1935 at Vereeniging in South Africa. He was
a businessmanand Director of Premier Metal Co. of SWA (1973-). He was married to Janie van
der Poel, née Kotzé in 1968.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Janie van der Poel, née Kotzé, married 1968-
Father: Albert Van der Poel
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001204
Van der Smit, George Diederik
* 24.08.1915 at Mobolo, Angola
First entry to Namibia: 1928
---
George Diederik van der Smit waqs born on 24.08.1915 at Mobolo in Angola. He was a
descendant of Angola Boers. He came to Namibia 1928. He was a businessman in Outjo,
Director of Sentrale Handelshuis (Edms) Bpk. and Okaukuejo Winkels. He was married to
Elizabeth Catharina van der Smit, née Steenkamp in 1951.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Elizabeth Catharina Van der Smit, née Steenkamp, married 1951-
Father: Pieter Van der Smit
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001205
Van der Walt, Barend Johannes
* 28.06.1914 at Steynsburg, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 01.11.1971
---
Barend Johannes van der Walt was born on 28.06.1914 at Steynsburg in South Africa. He
studied at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He joined the National Party in 1941.
He swerved as Assistant Party Secretary from 1948 to 1953. He was alected to the South
African Parliament in 1953 (until 1968). He was Ambassador to Canada, 1968, and to
Portugal, 1970. On 01.11.1971, he was appointed as Administrator for South West Africa
(until 01.09.1977). He was a Member of the Broederbond. He was married to Hercolina Maria
Salomina van der Walt, née Reyneke in 1961.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Administrator - South West Africa - 1971-1977
Married to: Hercolina Maria Salomina Van der Walt, née Reyneke, married 1961-
Mother:
Father: Tjaart Van der Walt
RAW DATA: Dickie/Rake 1973;
001206
Van der Wath, Johannes Gert Hendrik
* 04.11.1903 at Ladybrand, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1928
---
Johannes Gert Hendrik van der Wath was born on 04.11.1903 at Ladybrand in South Africa. He
was educated in Ficksburg in South Africa, then at the Glen Agricultural College. He
received teacher training at Bloemfontein. He was a teacher in the Orange Free State. In
1928, he was sent as a headmaster to Stampriet in Namibia, where he served for 16 years.
He retired in 1944 to become farmer in Stampriet. In 1946, he became a founding member and
first President of the Suidwes-Afrikaanse Landbou-Unie. In 1948, he was elected as Member
of the Legislative Assembly for Otjiwarongo, and in 1950 for Otjikondo. He was a Member of
the SWA Executive Committee from 1950. He served i.a. in the Long-Term Agriculture
Commission, as Chairperson of the the Education Commission 1950, and others. He was the
Administrator of SWA from 01.11.1968 to 01.11.1971. He was married to Gesina Johanna
(Jessie) van der Wath, née Strydom in 1931.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU POL ADM
Functions: President - SWALU - 1946-
Member of Legislative Assembly - South West Africa - 1948-
Administrator - South West Africa - 1968-1971
Deputy Minister of South West African Affairs - South Africa
Married to: Gesina Johanna (Jessie) Van der Wath, née Strydom, married 1931-
Father: Cornelius Van der Wath
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959; SWA Annual 1954;
000741
Van der Westhuisen, Hendrik
[v/ Westhuis, Hendrik - alternative spelling]
*
---
Hendrik van der Westhuizen was apparently a trader. He appears in Hendrik Witbooi's
"Debt Book" as a creditor, 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Not traced in Table, Esterhuyse, Lenssen. - Could it be Schluckwerder?;
000976
Van der Westhuizen, Hendrik
*
+ 10.1904 at Kosis
---
Hendrik van der Westhuizen was a boer who bought the farm Kosis from Hendrik Witbooi on
19.06.1901. At the beginning of the German-Nama War in October 1904, v.d. Westhuizen and
most male member of his family were killed in October 1904 at Kosis by Witbooi soldiers.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Namibia National Archives Database
001207
Van der Westhuizen, P.J.W.S.
* 31.07.1939 at Marico District, South Africa
---
P.J.W.S. van der Westhuizen was born on 31.07.1939 at Marico District in South Africa. He
studied at the Potchefstroom University. In 1966 he was appointed as N.G. Kerk missionary
among the San in Namibia. He graduated at the Univ.ersity. of Cape Town (MA) with a thesis
on the !Kung language. He was a Bible translator for the !Kung language. He was a Member
of the Broederbond. He was married to Adriana van der Westhuizen.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Adriana Van der Westhuizen
Children: Gerhard Van der Westhuizen
RAW DATA: Namibiana 10;
001208
Van Heerden, Matthys Johannes
* 26.01.1926 at Upington, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1939
---
Matthys Johannes van Heerden was born on 26.01.1926 at Upington in South Africa. He was
educated at Upington in South Africa. He came to Namibia 1939. He was an attorney and
notary, sworn appraiser and auctioneer. He was a Director of Outjo Vendusie Afslaers. He
also was a Deputy Sheriff. He was married to Ignasina Johanna Maria van Heerden, née van
Zyl in 1948.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Married to: Ignasina Johanna Maria Van Heerden, née van Zyl, married 1948-
Father: Schalk Willem Van Heerden
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001209
Van Niekerk, Albert Jacobus
* 03.02.1900 at Victoria West, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1917
---
Albert Jacobus van Niekerk was born on 03.02.1900 at Victoria West in South Africa. He was
a farmer in Grootfontein District, and politician. He came to Namibia in 1917. He was a
Member of the South African Parliament for Etosha between 1950 and 1958. He was a
Government representative on the Board of Management and Diamond Producers Association. He
was the Vice-President of the Otjiwarongo Annual Show. He also was the Vice-President of
the Windhoek Agricultural Show. He served as Secretary of the Minimum Area of Farms
Commission, 1946/47. He was the Chairperson of the Commission for the Determination of the
Price of Crownlands 1951/52. He was the provincial leader of the Voortrekker Youth
Organization. He was a Trustee of the Reddingsdaadfonds. He was a Patron of the
Jukskeibond, SWA. He was a Member of the Broederbond. He was married to Johanna Erna van
Niekerk, née Staebe in 1935.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
Married to: Johanna Erna Van Niekerk, née Staebe, married 1935-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959; SWA Annual 1954;
001210
Van Niekerk, Izak Andries Cornelius
* 02.10.1913 at Williston, South Africa
---
Izak Andries Cornelius van Niekerk was born on 02.10.1913 at Williston in South Africa. He
was educated at the Pretoria High School and University of Pretoria. He came to Namibia
1936. He was the General Manager of SWA Barclays National Bank Ltd. He was married to Anna
Helena van Niekerk, née Theron in 1942.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Banker
Married to: Anna Helena Van Niekerk, née Theron, married 1942-
Father: J.L. Van Niekerk
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001211
Van Niekerk, Michiel Andries
* 02.04.1914 at Paarl, South Africa
---
Michiel Andries van Niekerk was born on 02.04.1914 at Paarl in South Africa. He was
educated at the Ermelo High School in South Africa. He was a cattle farmer and served on
several local committees. He was married to Frieda Sarah van Niekerk, née Köster,
married 1942
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: Frieda Sarah Van Niekerk, née Köster, married 1942-
Father: Michiel Andreas Van Niekerk
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000313
Van Reenen, John Heyning
[Vanrenen, John Heyning]
*
---
John Heyning van Reenen was a ship's captain who prospected for copper from Baker's Cove,
south of Lüderitz. He obtained a concession to prospect near Bethany in 1855, but when
the Bethany (!Aman) Chief, David Christian (||Naixab), would not permit him to prospect
near Aus, he terminated his prospecting activities during April the same year.
---
Gender: m
Profession: Ship Captain
RAW DATA : Lau 1989 I:316; Tabler 1973:27; von Schumann 1988:1622; Esterhuyse 1968:10;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001898
Van Reenen, Willem
*
---
Willem van Reenen was the leader of a Cape Dutch expedition to Namibia in 1791.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:6; DSAB IV;
001897
Van Rhyn, Johannes Roux, Dr.
[Roux van Rhyn, Johannes
* 07.07.1890
+ 30.12.1971
---
Johannes Roux van Rhyn was the Administrator of South West Africa from 06.12.1951 to
30.10.1953.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.312
001212
Van Rooyen, Garth Theodore
* 16.12.1919 at Butterworth, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1938
---
Garth Theodore vaon Rooyen was born on 16.12.1919 at Butterworth in South Africa. He was
educated at the Umtata High School in the Transkei. He came to Namibia in 1938. He
underwent military service during World War Two between 1939 and 1945. He was a pilot in
the South African Air Force. He was the Managing Director of South West Air Transport
(Pty) Ltd. and Airport Manager at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001213
Van Schalkwyk, Gerrit Dirkse, Dr.
* 17.08.1905 at Victoria West, South Africa
---
Gerrit Dirkse van Schalkwyk was born on 17.08.1905 at Victoria West in South Africa. He
was educated at the Paarl Boys High Sschool and the University of Cape Town. He was a
medical practitioner. He served as a Windhoek City Councillor. He was married to Erika van
Schalkwyk, née Kriel in 1936.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Married to: Erika Van Schalkwyk, née Kriel, married 1936-
Father: Gerrit Dirkse Van Schalkwyk
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001899
Van Staden, Gerhardus Stefanus
* 01.08.1940 at Waterval Boven, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1993
---
Gerhardus Stefanus van Staden was born on 01.08.1940 at Waterval Boven in South Africa. He
was the Managing Director, of the First National Bank of Namibia Ltd., since 1993,
previously he was with the Standard Bank in South Africa. He was married to Florence Anne
van Staden, née Goodrich in 1964.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Florence Anne Van Staden, née Goodrich, married 1964-
Mother: Elizabeth Van Staden, née Goss
Father: Hendrik Van Staden
RAW DATA: WWSA 1994/95;
001900
Van Staden, Stefanus
* 11.04.1943 at Cradock, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1981
---
Stefanus van Staden was born on 11.04.1943 at Cradock in South Africa. He came to Namibia
in 1981. He was a Senior Lecturer at the College for Out of School Training from 1981 to
1986. He was a Vice-Principal from 1987 to 1988 and Principal since 1989 at the same
institution. He was married to Susan van Staden, née Jordaan, married in 1978 and
to Annie Elizabeth van Staden, née du Preez.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Married to: <1>Susan Van Staden, née Jordaan, married -1978
<2>Annie Elizabeth Van Staden, née du Preez
Mother: Lenie Van Staden, née Didericks
Father: Stefanus Van Staden
RAW DATA: WWSA 1994/95;
001214
Van Tonder, Johannes Gideon Francis
* 18.12.1911 at Aroab
---
Johannes Gideon Francis van Tonder was born on 18.12.1911 at Aroab. He was educated at the
De Villiers Graaf High School in South Africa. He was a farmer and businessman, Director
of Deltas Motors (Edms) Bpk., Okahandja, Damara Meat Packers Ltd. and the Apex Slagterye
Bpk. He was a elder in the Dutch Reformed Church. He was married to Johanna C.H. van
Tonder, née Jordaan in 1943.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR BUS
Profession: Farmer Businessman
Married to: Johanna C.H. Van Tonder, née Jordaan, married 1943-
Father: J.G.F. Van Tonder
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001215
Van Wijk, Gerard Carl
* 09.11.1932 at Swakopmund
---
Gerard Carl van Wijk was born on 09.11.1932 at Swakopmund. He was educated at Pretoria. He
studied at the University of Pretoria (B.A.). He worked at the Department of Commerce and
Industries in Pretoria from 1946 to 1960. From 1961 to 1965 he served as the Commercial
Secretary of the South African Embassy in Switzerland and from 1965 to 1968 in the South
African Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. He was a member of several
South African delegations to international trade negotiations. He was Manager of the
Karakul Board and of the International Karakul Secretariat since 1978. He was married to
Beatrix van Wijk, née De Villiers in 1958.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS DIP
Profession: Businessman Diplomat
Married to: Beatrix Van Wijk, née De Villiers, married 1958-
Father: Stanley Lewis Van Wijk
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000610
Van Wyk, Arie
*
---
Arie van Wyk was a Baster who had moved from Grootfontein (South) to Rehoboth, and whose
cattle was stolen at Lidfontein by Paul Visser in January 1883. The return of van Wyk's
cattle by the Witboois became a cause around which Hendrik Witbooi's mission crystallised.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
002307
Van Wyk, Cornelius, Baster Captain
*
+ 25.04.1924 at Rehoboth
---
Cornelius van Wyk was the second Captain of the Baster community from 1914 until 1924. He
followed indirectly Hermanus van Wyk who had died in 1905. After the death of Hermanus van
Wyk, the position of Baster Captain was abolished by the German
authorities and a Basterrat (Council of Basters) was appointed instead. In April
1915 the Basters rose against the Germans as a result of a secret meeting between the
South African Prime Minister Louis Botha and Baster Captain Cornelius van Wyk on 01.04.
The Basters were specifically dissatisfied that the "Baster Corps" was used by
the Germans to guard SA prisoners of war in Otjiwarongo. In Schlip, Pieter Mouton
collected all available able-bodied Basters to proceed to Sam-Khubis. The Germans, on
their way to Sam-Khubis, attacked the Basters at Heuras, Uitdraai and Kabirab. Among the
Basters fighting the Germans were Samuel and Johannes Beukes. On 09.07.1915 South Africa
declared the Rehoboth Gebied (District) to be the legitimate "homeland"
of the Basters. The Basters claimed that Louis Botha had promised them their complete
independence during his meeting with Cornelius van Wyk on 01.04.1915. On
05.02.1919, under the captainship of Albert Mouton, the Baster of
Rehoboth requested the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa to place them under
direct British protection, like Basutoland. This request was not granted. Samuel Beukes
was the first indigene to petition the League of Nations for independence for the Rehoboth
Basters. The South Africans nicknamed Beukes "Koos Petisie". When the United
Nations replaced the League of Nations in 1945, Beukes continued his petitions. He set a
precedent for the later petitions of Hosea Kutako. On 28.09.1923 an agreement was reached
between the SWA Administrator and a section of the Baster community to develop a new
constitution. This led to Proclamation No. 28 of 1923, which provided for a form of
limited self-government for the Baster. In turn this led to a conflict between the two
Baster factions, the "Raad" and the "Nuwe Raad". An
invitation from Administrator Gysbert Reitz Hofmeyr was met with contempt by the Nuwe
Raad. The Nuwe Raad sent a petition to the SA Prime Minister demanding
complete independence for the Rehoboth Gebied, but to no avail. Van Wyk died in
Rehoboth on 25.04.1924. His successor was Albert Mouton (until the South African crushing
of the Baster Uprising in 1925).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Mother: Sophia Maasdorp
Father: Cornelius Van Wyk
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001216
Van Wyk, Dekker Adam
* 08.04.1933 at Kenhardt, South Africa
---
Dekker Adam van Wyk was born on 08.04.1933 at Kenhardt in South Africa. He was educated at
Keimoes and the Potchefstroom University. He was a pharmacist at the Tsumeb Pharmacy. He
was the Chairperson of the Afrikaanse Sakekamer. He served as a Municipal Councillor in
Tsumeb and Mayor of Tsumeb from 1971 to 72. He was a board member of the Voortrekker
Kommando, elder of the Dutch Reformed Church and Member of the Broederbond. He was married
to Maria van Wyk, née Van der Vyver in 1957.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Functions: Mayor - Tsumeb - 1971-1972
Married to: Maria Van Wyk, née Van der Vyver, married 1957
Father: Willem Schalk Van Wyk
RAW DATA: WWSAA 1974;
000611
Van Wyk, Dirk
*
---
Dirk van Wyk was a Rehoboth Baster. According to Bruchhausen (Witbooi 1929), he was
Hermanus van Wyk's brother. This is possible but could not be verified. It seems that he
did not live on farm Kobus "near Hoornkrans", as claimed by Bruchhausen, but at
Kransneus south of Windhoek. There can be no doubt that he was a Baster leader of some
eminence.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001217
Van Wyk, Henning Jacobus
* 23.05.1926 at De Aar, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1957
---
Henning Jacobus van Wyk was born on 23.05.1926 at De Aar in South Africa. He was educated
at Kenhardt, Langenhoven and the University of Pretoria. He came to Namibia in 1957. He
was a businessman, Director of Nictus Eksekuteurskamer (Edms) Bpk., Landswyd Beleggings
Bpk., Nictus Eiendomme (Edms) Bpk., Nictus Boukontrakteurs (Edms) Bpk., Werda
Dorpsontwikkelaars (Edms) Bpk., Selfhelp-Mark Bpk. and TS Nywerhede (Edms) Bpk. He was the
Secretary and Director of the Damaraland Eksekuteurskamer. He was married to Rina van Wyk,
née de Jager in 1957.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Rina Van Wyk, née de Jager, married 1957-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000612
Van Wyk, Hermanus, Baster Captain
* .1835 at Fraserburg District, South Africa
+ .1905 at Rehoboth
---
Hermanus van Wyk was born in 1835 at Fraserburg District in South Africa. He was the
leader of the Baster community during their trek from Little Namaqualand to Namibia. In
November 1868 the Baster (!Gora) people, accompanied by Rhenish
Missionary Johann Christian Friedrich Heidmann, crossed the Oranje River from Pella and De
Tuin and moved into the territory. Claas Swart settled in Grootfontein (in the south).
Other Baster communities settled in Keetmanshoop, in Mier and Haas in South Africa, and in
Chamis. In 1870 the main group of the Basters settled under Hermanus van Wyk in Rehoboth
following an agreement between Nama and Ovaherero chiefs, thereby forming a buffer zone
between Nama/Orlam communities and the Ovaherero. Thus, Hermanus van Wyk was the first
Baster Captain. The original Rehoboth Baster families were the following: Benz, Beukes,
Bok, Claasen (Klazen), Cloete, Coetsee, Diergaar(d)t, Engelbrecht, Gertze, Isaak, de
Klerk, Koopman, Morkel, Mouton, Orlam, Schalkwyk, Slenger, Steenkamp, Vrey, Vries, Wimmer,
Witbooi and van Wyk. On 05.10.1876 negotiations between the Special Envoy of the Cape
Government, Palgrave, and Hermanus van Wyk from Rehoboth and Abraham Swartbooi from Ameib
took place at Rehoboth. On 18.06.1878 Jakobus Isaak of Berseba and Moses Witbooi of Gibeon
contacted Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth to establish a united front due to their distrust
of Palgrave. On 15.02.1882, during the Ovaherero Nama War of the 1880s, the Ovaherero
Chief Maharero (Kamaharero) made peace with Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth, with Rhenish
Missionary Heidmann as mediator. After the advent of the German colonial power, a private
treaty was concluded between Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth and the German geologist C.
Hoepfner (11.10.1884). The treaty included all mining rights. The mining rights in the
Rehoboth area were, however, not exploited for many years. On 15.09.1885 a protection
treaty was concluded between Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth and Germany. After the outbreak
of the German Ovaherero War of 1904, Samuel Maharero tried to involve the Basters, under
Hermanus van Wyk and Hendrik Witbooi, in the struggle. The two letters Samuel sent to
Witbooi never reached him, and Van Wyk was not willing to support Samuel. Van Wyk handed
over the letters for Witbooi to the Germans. In the second of these letters Samuel wrote:
"All our obedience and patience with the Germans is of little avail, for each day
they shoot someone dead for no reason at all. Hence I appeal to you, my Brother, not to
hold aloof from the uprising, but to make your voice heard so that all Africa may take up
arms against the Germans. Let us die fighting rather than die as a result of maltreatment,
imprisonment or some other form of calamity." These letters were written after the
outbreak of the war. The Baster Captain Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth died in 1905. The
position of Baster Captain was abolished by the German authorities and a Basterrat
(Council of Basters) was appointed instead. The position of Baster Captain
was only re-established during World War One. Cornelius van Wyk
became the new Baster Captain from 1914 until 1924.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Mother: Sophia Maasdorp
Father: Cornelius Van Wyk
RAW DATA: Pearson 1986; Report of the Rehoboth Commission 1927; DSAB IV; Drechsler
1966:76, 139, 166, 361; Lau 1995:249; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001901
Van Wyk, Johannes
*
---
Johannes van Wyk was an evangelist of the Rhenish Mission in Khoesarebis in 1903.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
RAW DATA: JBRMG 1903:18;
001218
Van Zanten, Jacobus Henri
* 25.11.1909 at Hilversum, Netherlands
First entry to Namibia: 1953
---
Jacobus Henri van Zanten was born on 25.11.1909 at Hilversum in the Netherlands. He was
educated at the universities of Delft and Weimar. He underwent war service in the
Netherlands Indian Army in World War Two. He emigrated to South Africa in 1936 and to
Namibia in 1953. He was an architect in Walvis Bay. He was married to Ethne Van Zanten,
née Lennox St Leger Stretch in 1946.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ARC
Profession: Architect
Married to: Ethne Van Zanten, née Lennox St Leger Stretch, married 1946-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001219
Van Zijl, Ebenezer
[Van Zijl, Eben - short name]
* 09.03.1931 at Keetmanshoop
---
ebenezer van Zijl was born on 09.03.1931 at Keetmanshoop. He was educated at the Central
High School at Bloemfontein, and Stellenbosch University. He was a lawyer in Windhoek from
1956 to 1966. In 1963 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly. He served in various
capacities in the SWA Administration. He was the Deputy Chairperson of the National Party
in 1975, participated in the Turnhalle Conference and the Multi-Party Conference. 1979 he
became a Member of the "Interim's" National Assembly. He was Minister for
Agriculture in one of the SWA " Interim's governments" in the 1980s. He was a
Member of the Broederbond. He was married to Elizabeth van Zijl, née van Rensburg in
1955.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW POL
Profession: Lawyer Politician
Married to: Elizabeth Van Zijl, née van Rensburg, married 1955-
Father: Ebenezer Van Zijl
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959; WWSA 1974;
001220
Van Zyl, Frans Louis
* 30.08.1927 at Keetmanshoop
---
Louis van Zyl was born on 30.08.1927 at Keetmanshoop. He was educated at the Sentrale
Hoërskool Bloemfontein and the Pretoria University. He was a journalist for "Die
Burger", from, 1952 to 1956, "Die Huisgenoot" from 1956 to 1964, "Die
Suidwester" since 1964. He was the Manager of Suidwes-Drukkery. He was a Member of
the SWA Legislative Assembly since 1971. He was a Member of the Broederbond. He was
married to Sophia Elizabeth van Zyl, née Delport in 1956.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: JOU POL
Profession: Journalist Politician
Married to: Sophia Elizabeth Van Zyl, née Delport, married 1956-
Father: Ebenezer Van Zyl
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000314
Van Zyl, Hendrik
*
---
Hendrik van Zyl was a farmer at Uitkomst near present-day Grootfontein (North) from at
least 1816 until 1843 who was always prepared to assist missionaries, no matter to which
society they belonged. Virtually all missionaries touched at his farm on their journey to
and from Hereroland and Damaraland.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Namibia National Archives Database
001902
Van Zyl, Hendrik Matthys
* .1828
+ .1880
---
Hendrik Matthys van Zyl was a hunter in Hereroland and Ovamboland. He died in 1880.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001221
Van Zyl, Johannes Hendrik
* 06.12.1916 at Pretoria, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1958
---
Johannes Hendrik van Zyl was born on 06.12.1916 at Pretoria in South Africa. He was
educated at Pretoria. He came to Namibia in 1958. He was the Manager of the Netherlands
Bank of SA Ltd., Windhoek. He was a Honorary Consul for the Netherlands. He was married to
Lydia van Zyl, née Steinführer in 1952.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Banker
Married to: Lydia Van Zyl, née Steinführer, married 1952-
Father: Johannes Hendrik Van Zyl
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001222
Van Zyl, Johannes Jacob
* 17.08.1940 at Swakopmund
---
Johannes Jacob van Zyl was born on 17.08.1940 at Swakopmund. He was educated at the
Windhoek High School. He was a businessman, Director of LTA (SWA) Ltd., C.H. Nominees
(SWA) (Pty) Ltd. and Ausspann Properties (Pty) Ltd. He was married to Jill Glen van Zyl,
née Smith in 1963.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Jill Glen Van Zyl, née Smith, married 1963-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001223
Van Zyl, John Pilford
* 29.04.1929 at Okahandja
---
John Pilford van Zyl was born on 29.04.1929 at Okahandja. He was educated at the
Helpmekaar High School and the Witwatersrand University at Johannesburg South Africa. He
returned to Namibia in 1949. He was a businessman in the food products trade, Director of
J.J. van Zyl (Pty) Ltd., Union Wholesalers (Pty) Ltd., and C.J. Bartenstein (Pty) Ltd. He
was married to Athena van Zyl, née Dempers in 1953.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
M/arried to: Athena Van Zyl, née Dempers, married 1953-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001224
Van Zyl, Jurgens Johannes
[Van Zyl, Jurie - colloquial name]
* 11.10.1923 at Niewoudtsville, South Africa
---
Jurgens Johannes (Jurie) van Zyl was born on 11.10.1923 at Niewoudtsville in South Africa.
He was educated at Swakopmund and Lichtenburg High Schools. He was a businessman and
estate agent. He was the Director of Jurie J. van Zyl (Pty) Ltd., Swatrust Finance (Pty)
Ltd., Indo Atlantic Group, Global Links (Pty) Ltd. and other companies. He was married to
Maria Susannah van Zyl, née Botha in 1953 and to
Christa G. van Zyl, née Haupt in 1987.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: <1>Maria Susannah Van Zyl, née Botha, married 1953-
<2>Christa G. Van Zyl, née Haupt, married 1987-
Father: John P. van Zyl
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974, 1994/95;
000743
Van Zyl, Willem
[Vanzeil, Will - alternative spelling]
*
---
Willem van Zyl was apparently a trader. He appears in Hendrik Witbooi's "Debt
Book" as a creditor, 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Not traced in Table, Esterhuyse, Lenssen. - Could it be Schluckwerder?;
002186
Vatje, Ovaherero Chief
*
+
---
Setting out from the Kaokoveld, Ovaherero leader Mutjise, son of Mbunga,
son of Tjituka, son of Kasupi, son of Vatje, son of
Kengeza of the oruzo orwohorongo (community or clan, also religious group from the
father’s side, while eanda is a socio-economic group to which the mother
belongs), moved to Okahandja (probably after 1785). He was followed by Ovaherero Chief Kasupi.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Functions: Chief - Ovaherero - before 1750
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000028
Vedder, Heinrich, Dr.
* 03.07.1876 at Westerenger, Westfalen, Germany
+ 26.04.1972 at Okahandja
First entry to Namibia: 27.12.1903
---
Heinrich Vedder was born on 03.07.1876 at Westerenger, Westfalen, in Germany. Originally
he was trained as a silk weaver. He was a missionary of the Rhenish Missionary Society. He
received his missionary training in Barmen between 1894 and 1903. He came to Namibia on
27.12.1903, and worked first in Scheppmannsdorf, Karibib and Otjimbingwe. On 17.01.1905 Vedder founded the Rhenish Mission in German South West Africa. From
1905, he was missionary for the black workers and prisoners-of-war in Swakopmund and also
serving the German Lutheran congregation. On 14.06.1905 the Rhenish Missionary
Wilhelm Eich in a report to Vedder mentioned the death of 59 men, 59 women and 73 children
in the Lüderitz (Shark Island) concentration camp. Poised on the vast South Atlantic, the
island was barren and wind-swept. Placed on the far, most exposed tip, facing the open
ocean, the concentration camp was surrounded by barbed wire and was guarded around the
clock by German troops. The Shark Island camp had no buildings, only standard issue
military tents and improvised shelters made from blankets and what little building
materials was made available to the prisoners. In December 1905, with Vedder at Swakopmund
by his side to translate "sentence for sentence" from German into Otjiherero,
the German Governor Von Lindequist chastised the assembled Ovaherero prisoners-of-war for
unjustly causing the war. He announced that they are now living the punishment they
deserved: "That your people are now destroyed, that so many have been miserably
killed, that some of your chiefs have gone over the border, that you find yourselves
imprisoned, that is your own fault. ..." He then remarked that he could not
ameliorate their suffering until all Ovaherero had come in from the field. "You have
the opportunity to send them the message to surrender themselves. Fair treatment is
guaranteed to them ... but I can say to you that every one who conducts himself well will
also be treated well ... ". What Von Lindequist meant by "good conduct" was
co-operation in a system of forced labour which the Germans established as the heart of
the camp system. One eye witness (Hugo Fraser) described the situation at the beach camp:
" When I got to Swakopmund I saw very many Herero prisoners of
war had been captured in the rebellion which was still going on in the country. There must
have been about 600 men, women and children prisoners. They were in an enclosure on the
beach, fenced in with barbed wire. The women were made to do hard labour just like the
men. The sand is very deep and heavy there. The women had to load and unload carts and
trolleys, and also to draw Scotch-cart loads of goods to Nonidas where there was a depot.
The women were put in spans of eight to each Scotch-cart and were made to pull like
draught animals. Many were half-starved and weak, and died of sheer exhaustion. Those who
did not work well were brutally flogged with sjamboks. I even saw women knocked down with
pick handles. The German soldiers did this. I personally saw six women murdered by German
soldiers. They were ripped open with bayonets. I saw the bodies. I was there for six
months, and the Hereros died daily in large numbers as a result of exhaustion,
ill-treatment and exposure." This report was confirmed by Vedder who wrote to
the Rhenish Missionary Society that the Ovaherero "were placed behind a double row of
barbed wire ... and housed in pathetic structures constructed out of simple sacking and
planks, in such a manner that in one structure 30 - 50 people were forced to stay without
distinction to age or sex. From early morning until late at night, on weekends as well as
on Sundays and holidays, they had to work under the clubs of raw overseers until they
broke down. Added to this food was extremely scarce. Rice without any necessary additions
was not enough to support their bodies, already weakened by life in the field [as
refugees] and used to the hot sun of the interior, from the cold and restless exertion of
all their powers in the prison conditions in Swakopmund. Like cattle hundreds were driven
to death and like cattle they were buried. This opinion might seem hard or exaggerated.
... but the chronicle may not withhold such a remorseless rawness, lusty
sensuality, brutal overlordship broadly perpetrated here by troops and civilians. A full
description is hardly possible." Vedder was later serving the Damara
congregation in Omaruru. Heinrich Vedder and Bernhard Trey from the
Rhenish Missionary Society undertook between July and September 1914, shortly before the
outbreak of World War One, an expedition into the Kaokoveld, in order to establish mission
stations. Kaoko Otavi was identified as an appropriate location. Trey tried to convince
Chief Kasupi from the Otjiyandjasemo area to support them, but Kasupi refused to see him.
When Trey linked up with Vedder again he related a most peculiar rumour which he had heard
from Ovaherero in Angola, and which baffled the missionaries for months. He heard that the
British had invaded the Portuguese territory and that the exiled Ovaherero Chief Samuel
Maharero had invaded SWA and captured several German ships at Swakopmund. Later they
learned the truth that World War One had begun. The "bush telegraph" of the
Kaokoveld had misled the missionaries - but there had been a grain of truth in the
rumours. From 1911 to 1919 Vedder was educating teachers and evangelists in
Gaub. He was deported to Germany 1919 by the South African authorities. He was allowed to
return in 1922 and since then worked in Okahandja. On 26.08.1923, Samuel
Maharero’s burial in Okahandja – alongside his forefathers – was a gesture
of defiance and a symbol of regained pride. The leader of the funeral services was Hosea
Kutako. Courtney-Clarke, Secretary for SWA, Mr Cope, Native Affairs officer and Mr Warner
from Okahandja represented the SWA Administration. Following a church service, led by
Vedder, the funeral was held out in the church yard, in accordance with Ovaherero
tradition. In consequence these events lead to a crisis with the Rhenish Mission which
still maintained its view of "Christian Western civilisation" and a pietistic
interpretation of Christianity. From 1923 to 1943 Vedder served as the Head
of the Augustineum. On 31.10.1945 the South African newspaper Die
Burger reported that the Rhenish Missionary Society planned to transfer all their
assets to the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingskerk (NGS). This transfer was
strongly supported by the leader of the Rhenish Church since 1937, Vedder.
On 03.07.1947 he retired as head of the Rhenish Missionary Society.
He was followed by Hans Karl Diehl. Interested in linguistics, ethnography
and history, he made a substantial contribution to linguistic research in Otjiherero and
Khoekhoegowab, and to Namibian ethnography and historiography by collecting oral
traditions. His monumental "Das alte Südwestafrika", compiled from oral sources
and research into archival, mostly missionary records became the most influential single
work on precolonial Namibian history. Unfortunately, not being intended as an academic
history, the information Vedder used was not referenced, and many of his sources remained
obscure. The other major flaw in his work is that he was writing with a preconceived idea
of the civilising mission of the "white" man, coming to Namibia as a peacemaker
to genocidal warring tribes. This overall concept was colouring his view of events, and
has made it so immensely popular and influential among the "white" settler
community and Apartheid ideologues. Vedder's activity as an educationalist, training black
teachers and writing school textbooks in Otjiherero and Khoekhoegowab, has also left his
mark on subsequent attempts at oral history: supposed oral history accounts are
occasionally found to be almost verbatim renderings of Vedder's textbooks. The ideological
bias of his works should however not distract from their enormous value as source
material. He was also a prolific writer of moralistic short stories, mostly published in
the annual "Afrikanischer Heimatkalender", which he edited for the German
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia since its inception in 1930 to the 1960s. Despite
being a missionary, and unlike most other missionaries, he was also influential in the
"white" Lutheran and Reformed churches, and was supportive of the Nazi influence
among Germans in Namibia. He was a founder member of the SWA Scientific Society (honorary
member 1938). He was a Member of the Historical Monuments Commission. Vedder was showered
with praise and official honours, particularly in his later years when he lived in
retirement at Okahandja. In 1951, he was made Senator "to represent the natives of
SWA" in the South African Senate, where he praised Apartheid and claimed it had been
invented by the Germans and practised in Namibia since 50 years. He had neither sympathy
nor understanding for the rising Namibian nationalist and anti-apartheid movement since
1945, and was scathing in his criticism of Rev. Michael Scott and his efforts to make the
Namibian voice heard. He was married to Lydia Vedder, née Schlickum in 1905. Vedder died
on 26.04.1972 at Okahandja.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL WRI HIS ETH
Profession: Missionary
Functions: Präses - Rheinische Mission in Südwestafrika - 1937-
Senator - Union of South Africa - 1951-1958
Married to: Lydia Vedder, née Schlickum, married 1905-
Father: Franz Wilhelm Vedder
Collections/Papers:
1). ELCRN (Correspondence, library)
2). NAN: Quellen (compilation from missionary correspondence and orature)
3). NAN
4). VEM
5). Namibia Scientific Society
6). NLN (Fragments of library (in Africana Collection))
7). Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks)
RAW DATA: Namibiana 10; WWSA 1959; SWA Annual 1954; Drechsler 1966:29, 283, 318, 321,
327-328; DSAB IV;
001225
Venning, J.
*
---
J. Venning was the Director of Posts and Telegraphs of the SWA Administration. He was
Chairperson of the Committee for the Promotion of the Walvis Bay-Rhodesia Railway
(Trans-Kalahari-Railway Line).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.012 (Correspondence and paper re feasibility of Walvis Bay-Rhodesia railway)
001226
Vesper, Michael, Dr.
* .1952
---
Michael Vesper is a German social scientist. He visited Namibia repeatedly in the 1970s
for research on his Ph.-D. thesis, and in the 1980s. He is a politician of the Green
Party. He was involved in Third World solidarity organisations.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN (Material on Namibia solidarity in West Germany)
000041
Victory, Messah
*
---
Messah Victory was arrested in September 1967. He was held in the Pretoria Central Prison
until February 1969. He was charged under the Terrorism Act with conspiring to overthrow
the SWA Administration. She was sentenced in the Windhoek Supreme Court to life
imprisonment on Robben Island in August 1969.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000315
Viehe, Friedrich Wilhelm Gottlieb
* 27.03.1839 at Mennighöffen, Westphalia, Germany
+ 15.01.1901 at Okahandja
First entry to Namibia: 1867
---
Friedrich Wilhelm Gottlieb Viehe was born on 27.03.1839 at Mennighöffen, Westphalia in
Germany. He was a missionary of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft who came to the
country in 1867. Initially, he worked among the Ovaherero at Otjimbingwe (between 01.06.1867 and 1870), but in 1870 he moved to Omaruru, where he
worked until 1887 where he established a school for the children of
European settlers. He was supported by Finnish missionary Antti Piirainen (as from 1872),
who set up a store, and by Rhenish missionary Caspar Heinrich Niederwelland (as from
1880). In 1872 he built the "Old Mission
House" in Omaruru. It is in this house in that Viehe translated the New Testament
into the Otjiherero language and erected the first meteorological station in Namibia
(1885). Between 1895 and 1898 the house served as post office under missionary Eduard
Dannert. On 14.04.1890, he moved to Okahandja, where he was head of
Augustineum. The college had 14 students at this time. In April
1896 a confrontation relating to the treatment of Namibian indigenes ensued between
Theodor Leutwein and Viehe. Leutwein expressed that "if a Negro has done wrong,
forceful action is of more use than too much mildness." In July 1899 missionaries
Diehl and Viehe sharply attacked Ovaherero Chief Samuel Maharero for "selling"
the Okakango locale, north of Okahandja, to settle his debts. At the end of 1900 Viehe
predicted that "local politics is heading towards getting all better land into the
hands of Whites". Viehe, Preses in Hereroland, died in Okahandja on 15.01.1901. He
was married twice: to Minette Vogt from Gütersloh on 17.06.1869 (two children), and to
Clara Rothe from Calbe on 03.11.1896.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: <1>Minette Viehe, née Vogt (1840-1894), married 1869-1894
<2>Clara Rothe, née Rothe, married 1896-
Children: Heinrich Viehe (-1883)
Gottlieb Viehe
Dorothea Viehe
RAW DATA: Chronik Omaruru; Kritzinger 1972; BRMG 1901; Otto-Reiner 1991; P.Reiner
1992:440; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:48-49; von Schumann 1986:2; Mossolow s.d.:4; Drechsler
1966:51, 54, 59, 89, 105, 332-333, 341, 343; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000316
Viehe, Minette
[Vogt, Minette - birth name]
* 24.02.1840 at Gütersloh, Germany
+ 13.02.1894 at Okahandja
---
Minette Viehe, née Vogt, was the first wife of the Rhenish Missionary Friedrich Wilhelm
Gottlieb Viehe.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Friedrich Wilhelm Gottlieb Viehe (18339-1901), married 1869-1894
Namibia National Archives Database
001904
Viereck, Albert
* .1907
+ 08.11.1982 in Namibia
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Namibia National Archives Database
001915
Vilander, Dirk
[Philander, Dirk - alternative spelling]
[Vyrlander, Dirk - alternative spelling]
* in South Africa
---
Dirk Vilander was the leader of a Baster group which joined the move of Jager Afrikaner to
Blydeverwacht at the beginning of the 19th century. He was later Captain of the Baster
Community at Rietfontein.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: TRA
Namibia National Archives Database
001227
Viljoen, Daniel Thomas du Plessis
* 16.03.1892 at Hanover, South Africa
+ 11.12.1972
---
Daniel Thomas du Plessis Viljoen was born on 16.03.1892 at Hanover in South Africa. He was
educated at the Paarl Boys High Sschool and the University of Cape Town. He was a teacher,
farmer aand South African politician. He was a Member of the Senate of South Africa and
member of various boards. He was the Administrator of South West Africa between 01.12.1953
and 30.10.1963. He was a Director of Thorer Fur Processing Co. He died on 11.12.1972. He
was married to Hilda May Viljoen, née Mortimer in 1923.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM POL
Married to: Hilda May Viljoen, née Mortimer, married 1923-
Father: J.H.I. Viljoen
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.312
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001905
Viljoen, Gerrit
*
---
Gerrit Viljoen was Administrator-General for South West Africa.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM POL
Namibia National Archives Database
001906
Villinger, O.C., Dr.
*
---
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Yearbook KBSSA 17:25-30;
001228
Vincent, John Dacre
* 01.01.1894 at London, England
First entry to Namibia: 1952
---
John Dacre Vincent was born on 01.01.1894 at London in England. He was educated at
Marlborough College, Wilts., and St. John's College, Oxford. He was an Anglican priest:
Deacon in 1920, Asst. Curate, Gillingham, Dorset from 1920 to 1925. He came to South
Africa 1925. He was the Asst. Curate in Bloemfontein between 1925 and 1928. He was the
Vicar of Longbridge Deverill, Wilts., between 1929 and 1937 and the Archdeacon,
Bloemfontein from 1937 to 52. He became a Senior Chaplain to the South African Forces from
1941 tgo 1946. He was consecrated the 5th Bishop of Damaraland in 1952. Since then he
supported the first cautious steps of the liberation struggle (by supporting, for
instance, the protests of the Anglican priest, Theophilus
Hamutumbangela, against the suppressive meeasures of the South African
authorities against contract workers from Ovamboland in 1954). He was married to Daphne
Vincent, née Clark in 1927.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Married to: Daphne Vincent, née Clark, married 1927-
Father: G.H. Vincent
Children: Paul Langridge Vincent (1931-)
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001229
Vincent, Paul Langridge
* 13.03.1931 in England
First entry to Namibia: 1953
---
Paul Langridge Vincent was born on 13.03.1931 in England. He was the son of the 5th Bishop
of Damaraland, J.D. Vincent. He was educated at St. Andrews in Bloemfontein. He came to
Namibia 1953 to work as a journalist for the "Windhoek Advertiser". On
05.12.1958 he started the "Namib Times" newspaper at Walvis Bay.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: JOU
Profession: Journalist
Mother: Daphne Vincent, née Clark
Father: John Dacre Vincent (1894-)
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001907
Visser, Jan
* in South Africa
---
Jan Visser conducted religious services among the Witbooi Nama while they were still
living south of the Oranje River. He was the father of Paul Visser
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000613
Visser, Paul
*
---
Paul Visser was a highly-placed official under Hendrik Witbooi. Apparently Paul Visser's
son was based at Lidfontein near Hoachanas, who joined Hendrik Witbooi between August and
November 1888.
---
Gender: m
Father: Paul Visser
Namibia National Archives Database
000614
Visser, Paul
[Veschter, Paul - alternative spelling]
*
+ 12.07.1888
---
Paul Visser was a Witbooi leader. According to some oral traditions, Visser's father Jan
served as pastor to the Witbooi Nama when they lived in southern Namaland. Paul was their
school teacher. According to a letter from the resident Magistrate of Walvis Bay written
in 1888 and cited in the Rehoboth Commission Report of 1927, Visser was "one of the
rebel Griquas" driven out of the Oranje River islands in the Korana War of 1878.
Married to Moses Witbooi's sister Lena, he and his own following only settled in Gibeon
after 1868. The first missionary reports mention already a rivalry between him and Moses
Witbooi, who placed him in charge of |Girixas, a considerable distance away from Gibeon.
Aided by several Nama leaders, he openly challenged Moses' chieftaincy in October 1887,
and died in battle against Hendrik Witbooi on 12.07.1888. Visser usually appears as a
chief villain and robber in the sources, but his strong opposition to Moses Witbooi's
selling of land to white South African immigrants testifies that he had a clear
understanding of the forces of colonialism at work.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Lena Visser, née Witbooi
Father: Jan Visser
Children: Jan Visser
RAW DATA: Quellen 2, evidence of Hendrik Witbooi jr.; Quellen 16:22.2.18709, 14.11.1870,
14.9.1871; ELCRN V.7;
001908
Vlees, Josef
*
---
Josef Vlees was a teacher of the AMEC in Gibeon in 1953.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Schlosser 1958:117;
001230
Vlok, J.J.E.
* .1895 at Sutherland, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1916
---
J.J.E. Vlok was born in 1895 at Sutherland in South Africa. He joined the Standard Bank of
South Africa in 1912. He came to Namibia in 1916 as a clerk. He opened branches of the
bank in Omaruru, Otjiwarongo, Outjo, Keetmanshoop, Mariental and Gobabis. He became a
sub-manager of the Windhoek Branch in 1930. In 1932, he left for Heidelberg in Transvaal
in South Africa. Then he became a credit manager of the Central News Agency in
Johannesburg. He returned to Namibia in 1941 to assume management of the Northern Labour
Organization, and subsequently of SWANLA in 1943. He was the Mayor of Grootfontein since
1950.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Banker
Functions: Mayor - Grootfontein - 1950-
RAW DATA: SWA Annual 1954;
001909
Vogelsang, Heinrich
* .1862 at Bremen in Germany
+ .1914
First entry to Namibia: 1883
---
Heinrich Vogelsang was born in 1862 at Bremen in Germany. He was the son of a Bremen
tobacco- and cigar industrialist. He had worked in South Africa and in various West
African establishments of the firm Vietor. He went to Namibia in 1883 as agent of Adolf
Lüderitz, and concluded the first land sales for Lüderitz with Joseph Frederiks of
Bethany. These "sale agreements" were characterised by
some fraudulent maneuvers which exploited the seller’s ignorance (in terms of the
English mile versus the German geographical mile). The sale of land treaty included all
mining rights.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Rohlfs 1884; Drechsler 1966:32, 329-330; C.A Lüderitz: Die Erschliessung...
(Oldenburg 1945); Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001910
Voigt, Bernhard
*
---
Bernhard Voigt was a school inspector and writer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU WRI
Profession: Teacher Writer
Collections/Papers:
1). HWWA Personenarchiv
001911
Voigts, Albert
* .1869 at Braunschweig, Germany
+ .1938
---
Albert Voigts was born at Brainschweig in Germany in 1869. He was a farmer and trader in
Namibia. He was the Chairperson of the Deutscher Bund für Südwestafrika. He died in
1938.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer Trader
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001231
Voigts, C.W. Harald
* 26.11.1908 at Windhoek
---
C.W. Harald Voigts was born on 26.11.1908 at Windhoek. He was educated in Germany. He was
Director of Wecke & Voigts (Pty) Ltd., owner of farms Voigtskirch, Deutsch-Krone and
Otjituezo. He was married to Irmgard Voigts, née Rapmund in 1937.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Irmgard Voigts, née Rapmund, married 1937-
Father: Gustav Voigts
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, WWSA 1974;
001912
Voigts, Gustav
* at Braunschweig, Germany
---
Gustav Voigts was a farmer and trader. He wrote the preface to "Die Dagboek van
Hendrik Witbooi", Cape Town, 1929.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer Trader
Collections/Papers:
1). HWWA Personenarchiv
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:295, 337, 339, 344, 348; DSAB IV; Grimm: Südwesterbuch;
001232
Voigts, Hans Dieter
* 26.03.1938 at Windhoek
---
Hans Dieter Voigts was born on 26.03.1938 at Windhoek. He was educated at the Deutsche
Höhere Privatschule (DHPS) in Windhoek and at Rondebosch Boys High School. He is a
Managing Director of Wecke & Voigts (Pty) Ltd., Director of Gustav Voigts Investments
(Pty) Ltd., Sands Hotel (Pty) Ltd., the First National Bank of Namibia Ltd., Wecke &
Voigts Investments (Pty) Ltd., Windhoek Uitspan Sentrum (Edms) Bpk., Namibian Sea Products
Ltd. and Swakop Textiles (Pty) Ltd. He was married to Heidi Voigts, née Ebert in 1968.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Heidi Voigts, née Ebert, married 1968-
Mother: Alice Voigts, née Sentefol
Father: Gustav Voigts
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974, 1994/95;
001233
Voigts, H.K. Gerhardt
* 22.08.1905 at Windhoek
---
H.K. Gerhardt Voigts was born on 22.08.1905 at Windhoek. He was a Director of Wecke &
Voigts Windhoek (Pty) Ltd., Wecke & Voigts Grootfontein (Pty) Ltd., Keller Neuhaus
Trust Co. (Pty) Ltd. and the Deutscher Verlag (Pty) Ltd. He was the Vice-Chairperson of
the Simmentaler Cattle Breeders Soc. of South Afirca. He was the owner of farm Voigtland.
He was married to Alice Voigts, née Sentefol in 1930.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Alice Voigts, née Sentefol, married 1930-
Father: Gustav Voigts
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
000438
Voigts, Joachim
* 20.03.1907 at Windhoek
+ .1994 in Namibia
---
Joachim Voigts was born on 20.03.1907 at Windhoek. He received his schooling in Germany.
He studied art at the Kunstgewerbeschule Braunschweig, then at the Landeskunstschule
Hamburg. He returned to Namibia in 1931 and finally (after another study year in Germany)
in 1937. He farmed on Okaparakaha and was interned during World War Two in Andalusia and
other camps between 1940 and 1947 in South Africa. After his return he lived on his farm,
since 1978 in Windhoek. Joachim Voigts was a prolific artist, especially in graphic art,
and illustrated many books and magazines in realistic style. He died in 1994. He was
married to Erdmut Voigts, née Böker in 1940.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
Married to: Erdmut Voigts, née Böker, married 1940-
Father: Gustav Voigts ( -1934)
RAW DATA: AHK 1982, pp.63-71; Lilienthal: Art in Namibia, p.50-52;
001913
Volk, Otto Heinrich
* .1903 at Richen/Baden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1938
---
Otto Heinrich Volk was born on 1903 at Richen/Baden in Germany. He studied botany in Wien,
München and Heidelberg (Habilitation in Würzburg 1936). He undertook his first research
trip to Namibia in 1938, followed by several later trips. He was Professor of Botany in
Kabul/Afghanistan between 1950 and 1953. He was a Professor for Pharmacognosy in Würzburg
from 1954 to 1972. He did substantial research on phytosociology, ecology and ethnobotany
in Namibia. These fieldwork research resulted in prolific publications, including the
standard work on Namibia pasturage, "Grundlagen der Weidewirtschaft in Südwestafrika
(1954, with Heinrich Walter)".
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Botanist
Namibia National Archives Database
001234
Volkmann, Richard
* 23.06.1870 at Pforta, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1894
---
Richard Volkmann was born on 23.06.1870 at Pforta in Germany. He joined the German
military in 1889. In 1890 he became Lieutenant. He joined the Schutztruppe in 1894 and
took part in the Naukluft fights against Hendrik Witbooi. By the end of 1894, he became
District officer of Omaruru. In 1898 he was commander of a detachment in Keetmanshoop.
From 1899 to 1904 he served as District Officer of Grootfontein. In June 1903 Volkmann undertook a punitive expedition into the Kavango together with the
direct military involvement of the two Roman-Catholic missionaries Hermandung and
Nachtwey. The village of Uukwangali King Himarua was attacked. From there the Germans
moved to Andara where Father Nachtwey agreed with Mbukushu King Diyeve II to the
establishment of a mission station, which was planned for the following year. He
took part in the War against the Ovaherero 1904 (battles of Uitkomst, Okangundi,
Waterberg, and the following pursuit into the Omaheke). He also participated in the
German-Nama War of 1905/1906. On 11.02.1906 the battle of Namtob
was fought by Ovaherero Chief Andreas with Bethany Chief Cornelius Frederiks against the
Germans under the command of Richard Volkmann. Andreas escaped into the Namib Desert where
he probably died of thirst. On 03.03.1906 Cornelius Frederiks finally yielded to German
supremacy (Richard Volkmann) at Heikoms. Frederiks died on Shark Island near Lüderitz in
1907. His decapitated body was used by the German "geneticist" Eugen Fischer to
prove his racial theories of the superiority of the German race. In 1906
Volkmann was the commander of the Bayweg detachment in the south. He retired in 1906.
Since then he was the Director of the Lüderitzbucht Gesellschaft.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; Fischer 1935:233; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000429
Vollbehr, Ernst
* .1876 at Kiel, Germany
+ 13.05.1960 at Krumpendorf, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1909
---
Ernst Vollbehr was born on 1876 at Kiel in Germany. He was a German artist who made
himself a name as a painter of tropical landscapes and of war scenes in both world wars.
In 1909/10, he visited Namibia, travelled throughout the country and produced numerous
paintings. He also reported on this trip in his autobiographical work "Bunte,
leuchtende Welt". Before his death in 1960, Vollbehr sold his collection of sketches
and paintings, including his travel diaries, to the "Deutsches Institut für
Länderkunde" in Leipzig.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Artist
Collections/Papers:
1). Deutsches Institut für Länderkunde, Leipzig (Paintings, sketches)
2). Staatsbibliothek Berlin (Literary works)
RAW DATA: Joachim Zeller: Berliner Maler und Bildhauer im Dienste der Kolonialidee, in:
Kolonialmetropole Berlin (Berlin 2002), pp.159ff.;
000507
Vollmer, Dorothea
[Gast, Dorothea - married name]
* 20.10.1860 at Hoachanas
---
Dorothea Vollmer, née Gast, was the sixth child of Rhenish Missionary Franz Heinrich and
Wilhelmine Vollmer. Married the merchant Gast from St. Louis, USA.
---
Gender: f
Mother: Wilhelmine Vollmer (-1897)
Father: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867)
RAW DATA: Lau; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:27;
000317
Vollmer, Franz Heinrich
* 22.05.1819 at Bielefeld, Germany
+ 03.02.1878 at Heiguraoas at the Zaub River
First entry to Namibia: 1848
---
Franz Heinrich Vollmer was born on 22.05.1819 at Bielefeld in Germany. Originally he was
trained as a linen weaver. He joined the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft in 1842, and was
sent out to southern Africa in 1846. He arrived in Cape Town on 29.11.1846. He arrived in
Namaland to replace Heinrich Scheppmann, and worked at Rehoboth from 1848 to 1853, and
after that at Hoachanas, where he taught among the Red Nation. He built the Rhenish Church
in Hoachanas in 1857. He was involved in the Treaty of Hoachanas of 1858. He was very keen
to teach in the Nama language, instead of the corrupted Dutch that was commonly used by
the missionaries, and prepared Nama teaching materials for printing. He was married to
Wilhelmine Wenzel on 01.02.1850. They had eight children. He died on 03.02.1878 at
Heiguraoas at the Zaub River.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Wilhelmine Vollmer, née Wenzel (-1879), married 1850-1867
Mother: Anne Margarete Christina Vollmer, née Graben (1796-)
Father: Hermann Heinrich Vollmer (1788-)
Children: Heinrich Vollmer (1850-)
Theodor Vollmer (1852-)
Dorothea Vollmer (married Gast)(1860-)
Gottfried Vollmer (1862-)
Wilhelmine (Jnr.) Vollmer (married Hoefen)(1864-)
Namibia National Archives Database
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks (Hoachanas Church of 1857, tower was
later added)
000505
Vollmer, Gottfried
* 26.07.1862 at Hoachanas
---
Gottfried Vollmer was born on 26.07.1862 at Hoachanas. He was the seventh child of Rhenish
Missionary Franz Heinrich and Wilhelmine Vollmer. He became a merchant in Krugersdorp,
Transvaal in South Africa.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Wilhelmine Vollmer (-1897)
Father: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867)
Namibia National Archives Database
000318
Vollmer, Heinrich
* 18.11.1850 at Rehoboth
---
Heinrich Vollmer was born on 18.11.1850 at Rehoboth. He was the eldest child of Rhenish
Missionary Franz Heinrich and Wilhelmine Vollmer. He became a merchant in Dortmund,
Germany.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Wilhelmine Vollmer (-1897)
Father: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867)
Namibia National Archives Database
000506
Vollmer, Theodor
* 21.08.1852 at Rehoboth
---
Theodor Vollmer was born on 21.08.1852 at Rehoboth. He was the second child of Rhenish
Missionary Franz Heinrich and Wilhelmine Vollmer. He became a trader in Wynberg in South
Africa.
---
Gender: m
Mother: Wilhelmine Vollmer (-1897)
Father: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867)
Namibia National Archives Database
000319
Vollmer, Wilhelmine
[Wenzel, Wilhelmine - birth name]
* at Orsoy, Germany
+ 62.06.1897 at Herbede, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1850
---
Wilhelmine Vollmer, née Wenzel, was the wife of Rhenish Missionary Franz Heinrich
Vollmer.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867), married 1850-1867
Mother: Anna Gerdrutha Wenzel, née Hüssen
Father: Christian Friedrich Wenzel
Children: Heinrich Vollmer (1850-)
Theodor Vollmer (1852-)
Dorothea Vollmer (married Gast)(1860-)
Gottfried Vollmer (1862-)
Wilhelmine (Jnr.) Vollmer (married Hoefen)(1864-)
RAW DATA: P.Reiner 1992:441; Lau 1985:V1298; Moritz 2000:7;
000320
Vollmer, Wilhelmine (Jnr.)
[Hoefen, Wilhelmine von - married name]
* 19.06.1864 at Hoachanas
---
Wilhelmine Vollmer was born on 19.06.1864 at Hoachanas. She was the eighth child of
Rhenish Missionary Franz Heinrich and Wilhelmine Vollmer. She married Pastor von Hoefen
from Herbede in Germany.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Franz Heinrich Vollmer (1819-1867)
Father: von Hoefen
Namibia National Archives Database
000710
Von Alten, Victor
* 26.04.1877
+ 10.01.1926
---
Victor von Alten was born on 26.04.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
10.01.1926.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.151
000424
Von Arnim, Wolf Werner, Graf
[Arnim-Muskau, Wolf Werner von, Graf]
* 11.04.1876
+ 11.08.1904 at Waterberg
---
Wolf Werner von Arnim-Muskau was born on 11.04.1876 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe
officer in the rank of "Leutnant". He fell in the battle of Waterberg on
11.08.1904.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Mitteilungsblatt des Traditionsverbandes ehemaliger Schutz- und Überseetruppen,
no.52, pp.15-21; Fischer 1935:179;
000423
Von Arenberg, Prosper, Prinz
*
---
Prosper von Arenberg was a settler farmer, who in 1899 murdered Willi Cain.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000642
Von Bach, Bruno Hans Wilhelm Alfred Adolf Sartorius
* 04.01.1904 at Detmold, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1925
---
Bruno Hans Wilhelm Alfred Adolf Sartorius von Bach was born on 04.01.1904 at Detmold in
Germany. He was educated in Hannover and Hameln and the Kolonialschule Witzenhausen in
Germany. He came to Namibia in 1925. He was a farmer and politician in the SWA National
Party who served in the Legislative Assembly (1955-1970), the Executive Committee (until
1970), the Land Board (1950-1955), and the South African Senate since 1970. He married
Hella Schlettwein on 20.05.1929. The Von Bach Dam is named after him.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Functions: Senator - South African Senate - 1970-
Member - Legislative Assembly of SWA - 1955-1970
Member - Executive Committee of SWA - -1970
Married to: Bach Hella, née Schlettwein, married 1929-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
000643
Von Backstrom, Johan George Frederick
* 17.05.1895 at Johannesburg, South Africa
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Von Backstrom ?, married 1920-
von Backstrom Susie Charlotte, née Dausacker, married 1949-
Father: Johan George Frederick von Backstrom
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001285
Von Beesten
*
---
Von Beesten was a German Schutztruppe officer. He was the German officer-in-command in the
massacre of Ombakaha (at the Omuramba Ganas) on 02.11.1904 where he gave order to kill
nearly 70 Ovaherero soldiers who had come to surrender to the Germans.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:188,355; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001290
Von Bennigsen
*
---
Von Bennigsen was a member of the Board of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für
Südwestafrika.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:292;
000663
Von Bergen-Ries, Hans Jürgen
* 30.06.1914 at Aabenraa, Denmark
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Hans Jürgen von Bergen-Ries was born on 30.06.1914 at Aabenraa in Denmark and educated
there. He arrived in Namibia in 1936 and worked first in the hardware business, then in
the motor trade. Since 1953 he was the Managing Director of A. Rosenthal Gunsmiths.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Father: Jurgen Nicolai von Bergen
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
002033
Von Blottnitz, Marcus
*
---
Marcus von Blottnitz is the Managing Director of Namibia Breweries Limited since August
2003.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
001303
Von Bodenhausen, Hans, Freiherr
* 11.10.1877 in Germany
+ 06.08.1904 at Waterberg
---
Hans Freiherr von Bodenhausen was born on 11.10.1877 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe
officer. He died in action just before the Battle of the Waterberg on 06.08.1904 (against
the Ovaherero leader Hosea Kutako).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001308
Von Boemcken, Julius
* 14.02.1873 in Germany
---
Julius von Boemcken was born on 14.02.1873 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:236;
001317
Von Brederlow, Joachim
* 09.04.1876 in Germany
+ 24.11.1909
---
Joachim von Brederlow was born on 09.04.1876 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He
died on 24.11.1909.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:154;
000457
Von Bredow, Hedwig
* 19.12.1853
+ 29.08.1932 at Tsumeb
---
---
Gender: f
Namibia National Archives Database
001324
Von Brön, Eugen Albert
* 11.06.1862 at Berlin, Germany
+ 14.01.1938 at Usakos
First entry to Namibia: 1887
---
Eugen Albert von Brön was born on 11.06.1862 at Berlin in Germany. He was a descendent of
an old merchant family of Danzig in Germany (now Poland), was a mariner and trade agent on
ships of the Woermann Line. He came to Namibia in 1887 and was involved in cattle trade
and transport. He obtained excellent knowledge of the hinterland of Swakopmund and Walvis
Bay, was highly interested in mineralogy, and served as the first "harbour
master" of Swakopmund. He married a Nama woman who had nursed him when he fell
seriously ill in a remote area. This isolated him from European social life and made him
retreat to outposts in the district such as Cape Cross, Sandwich Harbour, and Ururas at
the Kuiseb River. During the First World War he served as translator for the military
magistrate. During the 1920s and 1930s he seems to have lived mostly in Ururas. He died of
liver cancer in the Usakos Hospital on 14.01.1938.
---
Gender: m
Father: Albert A.A. von Brön (1834-1888)
Children: Hans von Brön (1899-)
Collections/Papers:
1). in family custody in Danzig, lost during World War II (Letters to the family)
RAW DATA: H. Rautenberg: Eugen Albert von Brön, Namib und Meer vol.9, pp.19-26;
000688
Von Buchka, Gerhard, Dr.
* .1851 at Neustrelitz, Germany
+ .1935
---
Gerhard von Buchka was born in 1851 in Neustrelitz in Germany. He was a German lawyer. He
was a Reichstag deputy for the "Konservative Partei" from 1893 to 1898 and a
Member of the Commission on the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch). He was a
Member of the Executive Committee of the Deutscher Flottenverein, 1897 and a Director of
the Colonial Department of the German Foreign Office (Kolonialabteilung im Auswärtigen
Amt) from 31.03.1898 until 16.05.1900. From 1902 onwards he was a Vice Chancellor of the
Rostock University. Apparently he was never in Namibia. He died in 1935.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Collections/Papers:
1). Deutsches Zentralarchiv Potsdam (now: Bundesarchiv. Abt. Berlin-Lichterfelde?)(Letters
from Johann Albrecht Herzog zu Mecklenburg 1898/99)
RAW DATA: Mommsen; Gann: Rulers.;
001008
Von Bülow, Bernhard, Fürst
* 03.05.1849 at Klein-Flottbek, Germany
+ 29.10.1929 at Rome, Italy
---
Bernhard von Bülow was born on 03.05.1849 at Klein-Flottbek in Germany. He entered the
German diplomatic service in 1888. He became Staatssekretär (Permanent Secretary) of the
German Foreign Office in 1897, and Reichskanzler (Chancellor) in 1900. In 1909 he resigned
from this post after he did not succeed to get a financial reform approved by Parliament,
and thereafter lived in Italy. During his term of office as Chancellor, the
German-Namibian War of 1903-1908 took place, and Von Bülow intervened personally at
several stages of the war. It was Von Bülow who asked the Kaiser to revoke General Von
Trotha's extermination order of 02.10.1904 (not for humanitarian reasons but to save the
labour force of the colony). It was also him who suggested to put the surviving Ovaherero
into concentration camps. He never visited Namibia. He died on 29.10.1929 at Rome in
Italy.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Diplomat Politician
RAW DATA: Brockhaus Konversationslexikon; Drechsler 1966: 133, 158, 186, 192, 194-196,
230, 242, 255, 300, 345, 347-352, 355-356, 359-361, 363, 365;
000636
Von Bülow, Franz Joseph
* 11.09.1861 at Frankfurt/Main, Germany
+ 10.1915 at Dresden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1891
Last departure from Namibia: 1893
---
Franz Joseph von Bülow was born on 11.09.1861 at Frankfurt/Main in Germany. He was a
Premier Lieutenant in the Prussian Army, but took his leave in 1891 and went to Namibia to
serve in the Schutztruppe. He took part in a number of military engagements against
Hendrik Witbooi, but left the country after he has lost his eyesight through a
hunting accident in October 1893. His book "Drei Jahre im Lande Hendrik
Witboois" (1896) is an important historical source. He died in October 1915 at
Dresden in Germany. He was married to Konstanze von Bülow, née Goldacker in 1898-1899.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Konstanze von Bülow, née Goldacker, married 1898-1899
RAW DATA: Deutsches Koloniallexikon; W. Tabel: Erlebnisschilderungen von Soldaten und
Siedlern aus der Kolonial- und Mandatszeit Südwestafrikas, AHK 1975, pp.81-82; Drechsler
1966:70, 80. 83, 146, 300, 333, 339, 349;
001330
Von Bülow, Siegfried
* 10.04.1871 at Schwerin, Germany
+ 27.04.1905 at Huams
First entry to Namibia: 1904
---
Siegfried von Bülow was born on 10.04.1871 at Schwerin in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe
officer. He served in Cameroon under Dominik (1899-1904), then in Namibia from 1904. He
died in action near Huams on 27.04.1905.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001332
Von Bunsen
* in Germany
---
Von Bunsen was the Distriktchef of Warmbad from 1897 to 1901. He started the war against
the remnants of the Orlam Afrikaners under Chief Kividoe in 1897 in the extreme south-east
of the territory. On 05.07.1897 the first battle between the Orlam
Afrikaners and the Germans ended in defeat for the latter (Lieutenant von Bunsen, District
Chief of Warmbad and Lieutenant Helm). On 02.08.1897 the
reinforced German forces overpowered the Orlam Afrikaners under their leader Kividoe in
the battle of the Gamsib Ravine at the Oranje River. Following the battle, Kividoe and all
his officers were executed after being extradited by the the South African
Cape Police, to whom they had surrendered.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch; Leutwein 1906:142-143, 316;
000272
Von Burgsdorff, Karl Henning Konrad
[Burgsdorff, Henning von]
* 19.02.1867 at Demmin, Germany
+ 04.10.1904 at Mariental
First entry to Namibia: 16.07.1894
---
Karl Henning Konrad von Burgsdorff was born on 19.02.1867 at Demmin in Germany. He was the
son of a Prussian officer, and was educated in the Prussian Cadet Corps. In March 1886 he
became Lieutenant in the 3rd Guard Regiment of the Infantry. He was a Lieutenant of the
Schutztruppe from 1894. He married Martha (Malta) von Dallwitz on 15.06.1896 at Walvis
Bay. Burgsdorff belonged to the large contingent of officers and troops requested by
Leutwein for his battle with Witbooi in the Naukluft mountains, and arrived with the ship
"Lulu Bohlen" on 16.07.1894 at Swakopmund. He took part in the Naukluft battles
in 1894. He was stationed at Gibeon from October 1894 as head of the garrison and
"Bezirksamtmann", his relations with Hendrik Witbooi between 1894 and 1904 have
widely been described as cordial. Apparently he was killed by one of Witbooi's men (Salomo
Zaal) on 04.10.1904 at Mariental when he tried to meet Witbooi, despite the fact that
Hendrik Witbooi had informed him in writing that all treaties between the Germans and the
Witbooi Nama were cancelled, and all allegiances renounced (October 1904). His biographer
Alhard von Burgsdorff (1947) has alleged that he was led into a trap by Samuel Izaak and
Petrus Jod, but the precise circumstances of his death are not documented and, in fact,
obscure. The above details were compiled by his biographer and clearly derived from word
of mouth. The informants were Burgsdorff's wife, and a number of contemporary settlers and
farmers who had put their views, and what they in turn had heard, on record. Burgsdorff's
remains were reburied on 02.06.1906 at Hohenjesar in Germany. He was married to Martha
(Malta) Beathe Luise von Burgsdorff, née von Dallwitz (1860-)(married 1896-1904).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL ADM
Profession: Military officer
Functions: Bezirksamtmann - Bezirk Gibeon - 1896-1904
Married to: Martha (Malta) Beathe Luise von Burgsdorff, née von Dallwitz (1860-), married
1896-1904
Mother: Hedwig Johanna Henriette von Burgsdorff (1835-1888)
Father: Karl Ehrenreich Antonin Wilhelm von Burgsdorff (18224-1880)
Collections/Papers:
1). Archiv Garath * Cited by Alhard v.Burgsdorff; apparently his private archives in 1947;
further fate not established
2). Archiv Hohenjesar * Cited by Alhard v.Burgsdorff; apparently family archives kept by
Conrad v.Burgsdorff; further fate not established
3). Archiv Treplin * Cited by Alhard v.Burgsdorff; apparently family archives; further
fate not established
RAW DATA: Hubatsch; Dt.Kolonialblatt 1904:662 (obituary); Drechsler 1966:90, 93-95,
121-122, 143-144, 202, 204-205, 300, 340-341, 345-346, 357;
001334
Von der Bussche, Baron
*
---
Von der Bussche was the representative of the South West Africa Territories Ltd. in
Warmbad.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:133;
000386
Von Caprivi de Caprera de Montecuccoli, Georg Leo, Graf (Count)
* 24.02.1831 at Berlin, Germany
+ 06.02.1899 at Skyren near Krossen, Germany
---
Georg Leo von Caprivi de Caprera de Montecuccoli was born on 24.02.1831 at Berlin in
Germany. He joined the Prussian Army in 1849. He was in active service in the
German/French War 1870/71. He became Generalmajor in 1877 and Generalleutnant in 1882. He
headed the German Navy in the rank of Vizeadmiral from 1883 to 1888. On 30.03.1890,
Emperor Wilhelm II appointed him as Chancellor (Reichskanzler) to succeed Bismarck, who
disagreed with the Emperor about foreign policy. Although the person was virtually unknown
in the country, Caprivi's name got famous in Namibia through the "Caprivi
Strip", which was named after him (allegedly by Theodor Leutwein) because under his
Chancellorship the so-called Heligoland Treaty with Britain was signed, which gave Germany
colonial authority over this stretch of land between the Okavango and Zambezi rivers.
Caprivi resigned from the Chancellorship on 26.10.1894 and was succeeded by Fürst
Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. He died on 06.02.1899 at Skyren near Krossen in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Functions: Reichskanzler - Germany - 1890-1894
RAW DATA: Meyers Konversationslexikon 6.Aufl.; Drechsler 1966:70-72, 74, 77/78, 99-100,
295, 305, 312, 314, 316-317, 335-337, 339-340, 342, 347;
001355
Von Cossel, Detloff
* 09.08.1880
---
Detloff von Cossel was born on 09.08.1880. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179
001363
Von Damm, Walter
* 10.04.1874 in Germany
---
Walter von Damm was born on 10.04.1874 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1953:205;
000391
Von Deimling, Berthold
* 21.03.1853 at Karlsruhe, Germany
+ 03.02.1944 at Baden-Baden, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1904
---
Berthold von Deimling was born on 21.03.1853 at Karlsruhe in Germany. He was an officer.
He joined the military as "Einjährig-Freiwilliger" on 01.10.1871. Before coming
to German SWA, he was stationed in Alsace-Lorraine and involved in the "Zabern
incident". He fought in the German-Namibian War 1903-1908. He commanded the troops in
southern Namibia until April 1905, when an injury enforced sick leave in Germany, where he
was mobilitated on 09.11.1905. He returned in May 1906 to become Schutztruppe Commander
until the state of war was officially lifted on 31.03.1907. He returned to Germany as
Major-General. From 1913 to 1917 he was the Commanding General of the XVth Army Corps in
Strasbourg. After World War One, he became active in the peace movement. In 1924, he
co-founded the "Reichsbanner", a Social Democrat paramilitary organisation. He
died on 03.02.1944 at Baden-Baden in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg (Includes autobiographical manuscript; war diary
from Namibia 1904-1906; correspondence; and printed material)
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon; Hubatsch; Drechsler 1966:182, 216, 218, 226-230, 232-233,
237, 247, 251, 301, 353, 357, 359-362;
001526
Von Donnersmarck, Henckel, Graf
* in Germany
---
Henckel von Donnersmarck acquired shares in the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für SWA.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:41;
001394
Von Eckenbrecher, Margarete
[Hopfer, Margarethe - birth name]
* .1875 at Bernburg/Anhalt, Germany
+ .1955 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 05.1902
---
Margarete von Eckenbrecher, née Hopfer, was born in 1875 at Bernburg/Anhalt in Germany.
She was trained as a teacher, and taught for some years in Berlin in Germany before
marrying the artist, trader and farmer Themistokles v. Eckenbrecher and emigrating with
him to Namibia. They established a farm at Okombahe, which was destroyed in the
German-Ovaherero War of 1904. The family escaped unscathed and returned to Germany, later
lived some years in Usambara (German East Africa). The marriage was divorced in 1913, and
Margarete von Eckenbrecher returned to Namibia where she took up teaching at the the
"Oberrealschule" in Windhoek. She taught until retirement in 1933, and lived in
Windhoek until her death in 1955. She became famous for her autobiographical account on
her two years in Okombahe, "Was Afrika mir gab und nahm", which was first
published in 1907 and saw eight reprints (revised and updated ed. in 1938). She died in
1955 at Windhoek.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI, DU
Profession: Teacher Writer
Married to: Themistokles von Eckenbrecher, married 1902-1913
Mother: Anna Hopfer, née von Clausbruch
Children: Hans-Henning (Büdi) Eckenbrecher (1905-1927)
Themistokles (Bitz) Eckenbrecher (1903-)
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:96-99;
000719
Von Eckenbrecher, Themistokles
[Eckenbrecher, Themis von - colloquial name]
*
First entry to Namibia: 1895
Last departure from Namibia: 1904
---
The artist Themistokles von Eckenbrecher came to Namibia as a Schutztruppe soldier in
1895, where he served until 1900. He lived as a farmer and trader for some years. He
married his wife Margarethe in Berlin, 1902 and established a farm at Okombahe. Some of
his paintings with Namibian motifs were printed as postcards. His wife, Margarethe von
Eckenbrecher, née Hopfer (1875-1955)( married 1902-1913) became famous for her
autobiographical account "Was Afrika mir gab und nahm", which saw eight
reprints.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ART
Profession: Soldier Artist Farmer
Married to: Margarethe von Eckenbrecher, née Hopfer (1875-1955), married 1902-1913
Children: Hans-Henning (Büdi) Eckenbrecher (1905-1927)
Themistokles (Bitz) Eckenbrecher (1903-)
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:96-97;
000436
Von Epp, Franz, Ritter
* 16.10.1868
+ .1946
---
Franz Ritter von Epp was born on 16.10.1868. He was a German officer who fought in China
1900/01 ("Boxer rebellion") and in Namibia during the 1903-1908 War. After the
First World War he became a "Freikorps" leader against the German revolution and
an early member of the Nazi Party. From 1933 until 1945 he was
"Reichsstatthalter" in Bavaria and leader of the Colonial Office
(Kolonialpolitisches Amt) of the Nazi Party. He died in 1946.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Koblenz: Personal papers (Includes papers on his Schutztruppe time in
Namibia)
2). Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv München, Abt.II, Geheimes Staatsarchiv: Memoirs
1933-1945, papers from American internment * Probably no Namibian material
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:82-83, 175, 240; Biography in Schmokel: Dream of Empire (New Haven
1964);
000791
Von Erckert, Friedrich
* 30.12.1869 at Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Germany (today Poland)
+ 16.03.1908 at Seatsub, Botswana
First entry to Namibia: 1899
---
Friedrich von Erckert was born on 30.12.1869 at Bromberg in Germany (today Poland). He was
a German officer. After military training in Wahlstatt and Berlin, he began his career in
the Prussian Army. He served from 1895 to 1897 in the Chilean Army. He joined the SWA
Schutztruppe in 1899 with the rank of Captain. Because of his strong personality and his
leader abilities he was appointed District Chief of Omaruru. But his obstinacy and
punctiliousness so antagonised Governor Theodor Leutwein that Von Erckert was transferred
with his unit to Germany. On his return journey in 1902 he got to know commanders of the
British and South African Boer forces and gained an insight into conditions in South
Africa. During the German Namibian War 1904 he returned to SWA with his military unit.
During 1905 and 1906 he took part in various battles and skirmishes against Nama forces in
the south of the territory, especially in the Great Karas Mountains and along the
Oranje River. He was one of the main adversaries of the Nama commander Jakob Marengo. When
Marengo escaped to the Cape Colony in 1907, Ludwig von Estorff ordered Von Erckert to deal
with the commander of the Khara-khoen (Fransmann Nama), Simon Koper. Von Erckert was the
leader of the camel expedition through the Kalahari into British Bechuanaland to attack
Simon Koper in 1908. After a strenuous expedition Koper was tracked down by the Germans at
Seatsub. Von Erckert was killed in action during an attack on Koper's camp at Seatsub on
16.03.1908. His expedition became legendary in settler historiography, and was
commemorated in several publications, the best-known being Hans Grimm's "Der Zug des
Hauptmanns von Erckert". In 1910 a memorial to Von Erckert was erected at Gochas.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.234 (Family newsletter)
2). NAN: A.235 (Photos taken during Erckert's expedition into the Kalahari)
3). NAN: A.145 (Correspondence between E. Zelle and H. Schmiedel re Erckert)
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:237-238, 362; Fischer 1935:passim; DSAB I:853; Chronology of
Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001402
Von Erckert, Rudolf
* 05.06.1870
+ 01.09.1894 in the Namib Desert
---
Rudolf von Erckert was born on 05.06.1870. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died of
exposure in the Namib Desert on 01.09.1894.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:220;
000274
Von Estorff, Ludwig
* 25.12.1859 at Hannover, Germany
+ 05.10.1943 at Uelzen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 18.07.1894
---
Ludwig von Estorff was born on 25.12.1859 at Hannover in Germany. He was a German
Schutztruppe officer. After military training, including three years at the Military
Academy, he landed in Namibia on 18.07.1894 at Swakopmund, commanding a Schutztruppe
reinforcement contingent of 208 soldiers. He was involved in all major military campaigns
until 1907, the first being the expedition against the Kai|khauan in 1894, and then
against Hendrik Witbooi in the Naukluft Mountains in 1894. He returned to Germany to join
the General Staff in 1899, then served in German East Africa and returned to Namibia in
1902 as Deputy Commander of the Schutztruppe but resigned in 1903. After the outbreak of
the Great Resistance War in 1904, he immediately rejoined the Schutztruppe and arrived in
Swakopmund in February 1904 to fight for two years uninterruptedly against Ovaherero
forces, Hendrik Witbooi and Jakob Marengo. He was promoted to commander of the
Schutztruppe on 01.04.1907, replacing von Trotha, and held this position until 20.03.1911.
He was widely known under the nickname "Der alte Römer" ("The old
Roman"). He won the respect of many for his fearlessness and self-discipline. He was
a supporter of Governor Leutwein's policies, and opposed to Trotha's extermination
strategy. After his return to Germany, he served as a divisional commander in World War
One. Later he served in the Reichswehr, in which he headed the Reichswehrgruppenkommando 3
(1919-1920). Von Estorff left the army with the rank of lieutenant-general, having been
implicated in the Kapp Putsch. Deeply religious, he became closely associated with
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, and was opposed to the pro-Nazi "Deutsche
Christen". He died on 05.10.1943 at Uelzen.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Family custody: Personal papers * Includes original Witbooi letters
RAW DATA: Gann: Rulers; Dt. Koloniallexikon; Lau 1995:250; DSAB IV:751; Fischer 1935:
passim; Hubatsch; AHK 1983:61; Drechsler 1966:passim;
001403
Von Estorff, Otto
* 30.09.1874
+ 09.04.1904 at Onganjira
---
Otto von Estorff was born on 30.09.1874. He was a German Schutztruppe officer. He died in
action in the battle of Onganjira on 09.04.1904 against the Ovaherero.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:70;
001720
Von Falkenhausen, Friedrich
* in Germany
+ .1904 at Otjituesu
---
Friedrich von Falkenhausen was a trader and farmer near Otjihaenena. He was killed on the
farm Otjituesu at the beginning of the 1904 German-Namibian War. His wife Helene von
Falkenhausen, née Nitze (1875-1945), distilled her experiences into two books.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Helene von Falkenhausen, née Nitze (1875-1945), married 1899-1904
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:91;
001457
Von Falkenhausen, Helene
[Nitze, Helene - birth name]
* .1875 at Weissenburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1894
---
Helene von Falkenhausen was born in 1875 at Weissenburg in Germany. She was the daughter
of one of the first settlers in Windhoek, Albert Nitze, who brought his family in 1894 to
Namibia. She was the first trained teacher to work in Windhoek. She married the
farmer-trader Friedrich von Falkenhausen in 1899, and farmed near the White Nossob. Her
husband was killed at the beginning of the German-Ovaherero War in 1904 at Otjituesu. She
returned to Germany by the end of 1904 and wrote her autobiographical books
"Ansiedlerschicksale" (Berlin 1905, several reprints) and
"Deutsch-Südwestafrika: Kriegs- und Friedensbilder" (Leipzig 1907), dealing
mainly with her farming experiences and the war. She was teaching at the Kolonialschule
Witzenhausen but then returned to Namibia in 1908 and bought the farm Brakwater, farmed
after World War One near the Waterberg, and later worked again as a teacher. She returned
to Germany in 1928, lived in Durban/South Africa between 1930 and 1933, then until her
death in 1945 in Germany.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: WRI EDU
Profession: Teacher
Married to: Friedrich von Falkenhausen (-1904), married 1899-1904
Father: Albert Nitze (-1898)
Namibia National Archives Database
001461
Von Fiedler
*
---
Von Fiedler was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:135, 347;
000895
Von Flotow, Peter
* 27.11.1950
+ 12.11.2002
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: PRI
Profession: Typesetter
Namibia National Archives Database
000635
Von François, Alfred
*
First entry to Namibia: 14.02.1891
---
Alfred von François was the eldest of the three von François brothers, who visited
Namibia for half a year on 14.02.1891 and stayed with his brothers Curt and Hugo in the
Schutztruppe. His conversation with Hendrik Witbooi in March 1891, as published by Hugo
von François, is an important document on Witbooi's philosophy.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:74, 200, 304;
000271
Von François, Curt Carl Bruno
* 02.10.1852 in Luxembourg
+ 28.12.1931 at Zernsdorf near Berlin, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 24.06.1889
---
Curt Carl Bruno von François was born on 02.10.1852 in Luxembourg. He was trained as an
officer in the Prussian Army, also as geographer and cartographer. He was the second son
of a Prussian officer, Bruno von François and a descendant of a French Huguenot family
which fled to Prussia during the oppression of the Huguenots in France during the 17th and
18th century. He fought in the German-French war 1870/71. He joined the Belgian Kassai
expedition led by Hermann von Wissmann in 1883 as a geographer and travelled extensively
in the Congo area. He returned to Germany in 1886. He was made Captain and became a member
of the German Imperial General Staff in 1887. He was sent by the German Foreign Office to
Togo in 1887. He arrived in Walvis Bay on 24.06.1889 with 21 troops, the nucleus of the
Schutztruppe in German SWA. Here he found Heinrich Göring, the territorial commissioner,
who had been driven from Okahandja by the Ovaherero Chief Maharero. Against von Göring's
advice he immediately established himself in Otjimbingwe to deal with the opponents of
German authority in the interior. Von François occupied first Tsaobis, then Heusis and
then Windhoek, and started to construct a fort there in October 1890. This earned him the
title "Founder of Windhoek" in colonial historiography (although Windhoek as a
permanent settlement was established some 50 years earlier by Jonker Afrikaner). He
travelled extensively in Namibia and also into Botswana. When Göring left, Von François
was appointed Acting Imperial Commissioner. The administration moved from Otjimbingwe to
Windhoek on 07.12.1891. In 1893 he was promoted to Major and given the title of
"Landeshauptmann" of German South West Africa. In 1893, he started the first
German War on Namibians by his unprovoked attack on Hendrik Witbooi's headquarters at
Hoornkrans. Henrik Witbooi had refused three times to conclude a protection treaty with
the Germans and he became subsequently Von François' main enemy. Von François proved
unable to counter Witbooi's tactic skills, so that Berlin sent Theodor Leutwein to replace
him in 1894, after which he left Namibia and retired from military service in 1895. He
lived at Zernsdorf near Berlin, writing extensively for the rest of his life. He died on
28.12.1931 at Zernsdorf. He was married to Margret Francois, née Meyer in 1897.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Margret Francois, née Meyer, married 1897-
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Koblenz: Kleine Erhebungen 532 (Diary)
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:250; Hintrager 1955:32; Deutsche Kolonialpolitik in Dokumenten / hrsg.
E.G. Jacob, Leipzig 1938: 320; Hubatsch gives his death date as 30.12.1931
Königswusterhausen; Deutsches Koloniallexikon; SA military who's who; Deutsches
Koloniallexikon; Bülow 1896:52; Drechsler 1966: passim; DSAB I:853-855
000617
Von François, Hugo
* 12.05.1861 at Reichenbach, Silesia, Germany (now Poland)
+ 13.03.1904 at Owikokorero
First entry to Namibia: 24.06.1889
---
Hugo von François was born on 12.05.1861 at Reichenbach, Silesia, Germany (now Poland).
He was the younger brother of Curt von François. He arrived with him at Walvis Bay on
24.06.1889 in command of the 21-strong first German military force in Namibia. In October
his brother charged him with the major share in the settlement and fortification of the
seat of government in Windhoek. In 1891 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1896 to
captain. He left the country in 1894, retired from the military in 1898 and returned to
Namibia in 1901 to farm at Otjihase. At the outbreak of the Great Resistance War in 1904,
he fled to Windhoek on 12.01.1904 and rejoined the Schutztruppe. As military commandeer of
the town, he organised the defence of the capital. He fell in combat against the Ovaherero
in the battle of Owikokorero on 13.03.1904. He married Else Gödecke during a visit to
Germany in June 1892.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:250; DSAB I:855-856; SA military who's who; Drechsler 1966:74, 304,
333, 337-338; Bülow 1896:52;
000376
Von Frankenberg und Proschlitz, Victor Günter Egbert
* 19.07.1873 at Berlin, Germany
+ 04.06.1934 at Berlin, Germany
Last departure from Namibia: 1914
---
Victor Günter Egbert von Frankenberg und Proschlitz was born on 19.07.1873 at Berlin in
Germany. He studied law at Paris and geodesy at Cape Town. He was the district
commissioner of Omaruru from 1907 to 1912 and then in the Caprivi Strip from 1913 to 1914.
He was taken prisoner at Schuckmannsburg in the Caprivi Strip by the British forces on
22.09.1914, interned in Rhodesia until 1919, then returned to Germany where he pursued a
government service career. He died on 04.06.1934 in Berlin. He was married to Agnes
Streitwolf, née von Opel.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Distriktsamtmann - Omaruru - 1907-1912
Distriktsamtmann - Caprivizipfel - 1913-1914
Married to: Agnes Streitwolf, née von Opel
Collections/Papers:
1). Unclear - Bundesarchiv Koblenz, or Archiv des Traditionsverbandes? (Diary)
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001535
Von Gaertringen, Hiller
*
---
Hiller von Gaertringen was the Bezirksamtmann of Keetmanshoop from 1913 to 1914 (but on
leave in 1914).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
000013
Von Garnier, Christine, Dr.
[Christine Hoesch - maiden name]
* in Switzerland
First entry to Namibia: 1967
---
Christine von Garnier, née Hoesch, was born in francophone Switzerland (Le Locle). She
came to Namibia in 1967 after marrying the Namibian farmer, Piet von Garnier. She obtained
a doctorate in social sciences from the University Neuchâtel in 1983. She was a
correspondent for Journal de Genêve, Afrique contemporaine and Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: Journalism
Profession: Journalist
Married to: Piet von Garnier, married 1967
RAW DATA: Vom Schutzgebiet bis Namibia (2002);
001407
Von Gersdorff, Ernest
* 25.05.1878
+ 19.06.1916
---
Ernest von Gersdorff was born on 25.05.1878. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died in
action in World War One on 19.06.1916.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:168-174;
000394
Von Glasenapp, Georg
* 18.01.1857
+ 15.08.1914
---
Georg von Glasenapp was born on 18.01.1857. He served in the German-Namibian War from 1903
to 1908 as commander of a marine battalion. He held the Oberkommando der Schutztruppen in
the Reichskolonialamt from 1908 to 1914. He died on 15.08.1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Dt.Biogr.Jb. Teil 1914 [not seen]; Gann: Rulers; Fischer 1935:82, 120, 183, 184;
000829
Von Goldammer, Hugo
* .1856
+ .1905 at Barmen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1885
---
Hugo von Goldammer was born in 1856. He began his career in the German Army, qualified as
paymaster, and was sent to Namibia in 1885 as one of the first German officials. He became
police chief, commissariat inspector, firstly in Otjimbingwe, and from 1897 secretary of
the German South West Africa government in Windhoek. He died in 1905 at Barmen in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Profession: Colonial administrator
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.4 (Diaries 1886-1888; personal file: correspondence with Foreign Office on
personal matters and career; accounts of official journeys, 1886-1888)
RAW DATA: NAN Accessions finding aid; Drechsler 1966:42;
001494
Von der Groeben
*
---
Von der Groeben was the Bezirksamtmann for Gibeon between 1907 and 1910 and Karibib
between 1911 and 1913.
---
Gender: a
Field of activity: ADM
Functions: Bezirksamtmann - Gibeon - 1907-1910
Bezirksamtmann - Karibib - 1911-1913
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001412
Von dem Hagen, Eberhard
* 23.03.1872
+ 16.03.1920
---
Eberhard von dem Hagen was born on 23.03.1872. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
16.03.1920.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:70, 111;
001510
Von Hammerstein
*
---
Von Hammerstein was a Schutztruppe officer. He was involved in the war crime of Ombakaha
(massacre of Ombakaha (at the Omuramba Ganas) on 02.11.1904) where nearly 70 surrendering
Ovaherero soldiers where killed.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:188;
001413
Von Hanenfeld, Paul
* 21.05.1877
---
Paul von Hanenfeld was born on 21.05.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:111;
001414
Von Hanneken, Ferdinand
* 28.05.1877
---
Ferdinand von Hanneken was born on 28.05.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:205;
000846
Von Hansemann, Adolph
* 22.07.1826 at Aachen, Germany
+ 09.12.1903 at Berlin, Germany
---
Adolph von Hansemann was born on 22.07.1826 at Aachen in Germany. He was a banker and
director of one of Germany's largest banks, the Discontogesellschaft, which had been
established by his father David. He was one of the most active promoters of German
colonial ambitions, especially in the Pacific region and China. He was founder member of
the "Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für SWA". He also established the
"Otavi-Minen-und Eisenbahngesellschaft" to exploit the Tsumeb copper deposits in
Namibia and to build the relevant railway infrastructure. He was a Member of the
Kolonialrat from 1891 to 1903. He apparently never visited Namibia. He died on 09.12.1903
at Berlin.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL BUS
Profession: Politician Businessman
Functions: Managing director - Discontogesellschaft - 1857-1903
Member - Kolonialrat - 1891-1903
Father: David Hansemann
Collections/Papers:
1). In private custody (private papers)* Disappeared 1945 in the war turmoil in Silesia
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I; Deutsches Koloniallexikon; Drechsler 1966:10, 12, 30, 39, 41, 301,
312, 323-324, 349;
000443
Von Hase, Hans Jürgen
* .1911 in Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1933
---
Hans-Jürgen von Hase was born in 1911 in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1933. He
received his training in the fur trade in Germany at the firm Theodor Thorer, Leipzig,
1934-193?. He returned to Namibia in 193?, working in the karakul trade. He was interned
in South Africa from 1940 to 1946. He was a karakul farmer (Farm Jena) until 1975. He was
active in the Republican Party and the DTA. He was a Member of the Interim's Turnhalle
Government 1980-1983 (Minister of Transport). In 1984 von Hase moved to Hout Bay, South
Africa. He was married to Hilda von Hase, née Lühl ( -1981) and to Karin von Hase, née
Neumann.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: <1>Hilda von Hase, née Lühl ( -1981)
<2>Karin von Hase, née Neumann
RAW DATA: AZ 16.10.2001, p.5;
000015
Von Hase, Reimar
* .1948
---
Reimar von Hase was born in 1948. He received his schooling on the farm Jena, at the
Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek (DHPS) and the Gymnasium Schloss Plön in Germany
which he concluded with the "Abitur". He absolved his military service. He
studied agricultural economy at the University of Pretoria (B.Sc.Agr.) He became then
farmer and was engaged in national and international karakul farming bodies.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Functions: Member - Karakul Board of South West Africa
Member - International Karakul Secretariat
Director - AFRA
Chairman - Farmerverein Uhlenhorst
Namibia National Archives Database
001418
Von Haxthausen, Christian, Freiherr
* 04.08.1878
+ 28.02.1916
---
Schutztruppe officer. Died in action in World War I in Europe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:232;
001419
Von Heidebrand und der Lasa, Oskar
* 24.04.1867
+ 12.03.1931
---
Oskar von Heidebrand und der Lasa was born on 24.04.1867. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001421
Von der Heyde, Hermann
* 21.05.1857
---
Hermann von der Heyde was born on 21.05.1857. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:82; Drechsler 1966:182-183;
001416
Von Hardenberg, Hans, Graf
* 13.04.1875
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:204;
001417
Von Hardenberg, Rudolf, Graf
* 21.11.1876
---
Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.151 (Diary on the Nama War 1904-06)
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:204;
000864
Von Heydebreck, Joachim
* 06.10.1861 at Schwedt, Germany
+ 12.11.1914 at Karasburg
First entry to Namibia: 1893
---
Joachim von Heydebreck was born on 06.10.1861 at Schwedt in Germany. He served in the
Prinz Carl Grenadierregiment before being sent to Namibia in 1893. He was the Distriktchef
of Gobabis (?). He served in the German-Namibian War of 1904-1908 in command of an
artillery division. From 1911, he was the commanding officer of the Schutztruppe. He died
by the accidental explosion of a rifle grenade in Kalkfontein-Süd (subsequent Karasburg)
on 12.11.1914. He was succeeded as Schutztruppe commander by Erich Victor Carl August
Franke. He was married to Ruth Heydebreck, née Selle.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Ruth Heydebreck, née Selle
RAW DATA: SA Military Who's Who; Hubatsch; Drechsler 1966:342;
001422
Von Hornhardt, Alexander
* 10.07.1866
---
Alexander von Hornhardt was born on 10.07.1866. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:83;
001557
Von Jacobs
*
---
Von Jacobs was an employee of the German Consulate-General in Cape Town.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: DIP
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:2558-259, 358, 360, 365;
001577
Von Kageneck, Graf
* in Germany
---
Von Kageneck was the Distriktchef of Warmbad.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:133, 346;
000816
Von Kaschke, Otto Ernst Walter
* 21.09.1874 at Magdeburg, Germany
+ 10.07.1943 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 15.07.1921
---
Otto Ernst Walter von Kaschke was born on 21.09.1874 at Magdeburg in Germany. He received
his schooling in Berlin from 1882 until 1893. He studied humanities and theology at Halle
from 1893 until 1900. He taught at Berlin-Wilmersdorf from 1901 to 1907, and was then from
1908 until 1910 pastor at the same place. He was a navy chaplain as from 1911. He came to
Namibia in 1921 as pastor of the German Lutheran congregation in Windhoek. As from 1925,
he was a teacher in Windhoek and later until 1938 at Swakopmund. He was a founding member
and board member and Secretary of the SWA Scientific Society as from 1925. He died on
10.07.1943 at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL EDU
Profession: Clergy Teacher
Functions: Secretary - SWA Scientific Society 1925-19??
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Nam.Sci.Soc. 43:7-12(2002):41-42;
001425
Von Kathen, Hans
* 15.01.1882
+ 08.06.1915
---
Hans von Kathen was born on 15.01.1882. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
08.06.1915.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:138, 204;
001430
Von Kleist, Alfred
* 01.02.1882
---
Alfred von Kleist was born on 01.02.1882. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001431
Von Kleist, Bogislav
* 14.09.1862
---
Bogislav von Kleist was born on 14.09.1862. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001432
Von Kleist, Detlef
* 27.08.1873
---
Detlef von Kleist was born on 27.08.1873. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001433
Von Kleist, Ewald
* 21.05.1872
---
Ewald von Kleist was born on 21.05.1872. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001434
Von Kleist, Rudolf
* 22.02.1875
---
Rudolf von Kleist was born on 22.02.1875. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001435
Von Kleist, Ulrich
*
---
Ulrich von Kleist was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001436
Von Kleist, Wilhelm
* 15.05.1875
---
Wilhelm von Kleist was born on 15.05.1875. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001437
Von Klewitz, Carl
* 12.08.1881
---
Carl von Klewitz was born on 12.08.1881. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:200, 204;
001923
Von Klitzing, Kurt Otto
* 22.05.1913 at Windhoek
+ 14.05.2003 at Swakopmund
---
Kurt Otto von Klitzing was born on 22.05.1913 at Windhoek. He was educated in Swakopmund,
Naumburg (Germany) and Windhoek. He learned karakul farming on farm Voigtsgrund. He bought
the farm Okongona in 1951 and became a prominent karakul breeder. He retired in 2002 to
Swakopmund. He died on 14.05.2003 at Swakopmund.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: <1>?
<2>Hedi von Klitzing, née Knapmann, married 1954-
RAW DATA: Obituary in AZ 19.5.2003;
001439
Von Knobelsdorff, Paul
* 07.02.1879
---
Paul von Knobelsdorff was born on 07.02.1879. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935;
001607
Von Koenen, Eberhard
* .1915 in Namibia
---
Eberhard von Koenen was born in 1915. He received his schooling in Namibia and Potsdam.
From 1935 to 1940 he was farmer in Namibia. He was interned in South Africa during World
War Two. He studied sciences. He made ethnographical films in the Kaokoveld, Singapore,
and Indonesia. He was involved in the establishment and first research work at Gobabeb. He
studied medicine and graduated in Johannesburg 1973. Thereafter he was a homeopathic
medical practitioner in Windhoek. He published about medical botany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Married to: Heide Eva Maria Koenen, née von (?)
Namibia National Archives Database
001608
Von König
* in Germany
---
Von König was Personalreferent (head of personnel administration) in the
Kolonialabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes and Geheimrat.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Namibia National Archives Database
001441
Von Kummer, Wilhelm
* 30.04.1869
---
Wilhelm von Kummer was born on 30.04.1869. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:154;
001628
Von Kunow, Berndt
*
---
Berndt von Kunow was the Managing Director of the Karakul Breeders Association from June
1975.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001631
Von Kusserow, Heinrich
* 05.11.1836 at Köln, Germany
+ 15.10.1900
---
Heinrich von Kusserow was born on 05.11.1836 at Köln in Germany. He was the head of the
Kolonial-Dezernat im Auswärtigen Amt (Colonial Division in the German Foreign Office)
from 1880 to 1885. He died on 15.10.1900.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch; Dt. Koloniallexikon; Drechsler 1966:28, 30, 35, 37, 39-40, 328, 330;
001641
Von Lekow
* in Germany
---
Von Lekow was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:346;
000395
Von Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul
* 20.03.1870 at Saarlouis, Germany
+ 10.03.1964 at Hamburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1907
---
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was born on 20.03.1870 at Saarlouis in Germany. He was the son of
a general, he was trained at the military academy at Potsdam and was thereafter rapidly
promoted, being a member of the general staff in 1899. That year he served in the Western
intervention against the Yihotuan ("Boxer") rising in China. He served in the
Schutztruppe in Namibia from 1904 until 1907, i.a. in operations against Jakob Marengo
(battle of Blydeverwacht 05.01.1906). He was wounded and his left eye seriously damaged.
He was the Commander of the Schutztruppe in German East Africa from 1914 to 1918, where
the troops under his command successfully evaded defeat by the superior British forces
until the end of the war. After his return to Germany, he became a divisional commander in
the Reichswehr in 1919 and suppressed a revolutionary uprising in Hamburg. He retired as a
Major General in 1920. He was a member of various right-wing organisations, but not of the
Nazi party. Because of his sustained resistance against British troops in German East
Africa, he became an icon of the post-World War One colonial movement in Germany and
continued to be popular among German right-wingers and military traditionalists until his
death on 10.03.1964 at Hamburg.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg (Papers 1881-1957, including diaries from his
service in Namibia)
2). Destroyed in 1944 through war bombing in Berlin
RAW DATA: SA military Whos' who; Gann: Rulerw; Nuhn 1988; DSAB IV; Fischer 1935:83;
001644
Von Lieres und Wilkau, Waldemar Friedrich Wihelm Christian
* 02.09.1943 at Somerset West, South Africa
---
Waldemar Friedrich Wilhelm Christian von Lieres und Wilkau was born on 02.09.1943 at
Somerset West in South Africa. He is the Managing Director of Engen (Namibia) since 1990.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: WWSA 1994/95;
001645
Von Lilienthal
*
---
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:31, 329, 335, 340;
000321
Von Linsingen, Bertha
[Siebrecht, Bertha - birth name]
* 28.11.1831 at Notheim [Northeim?], Germany
+ 13.06.1923 at Gordon's Bay, South Africa
---
Bertha von Linsingen, née Siebrecht, was born on 28.11.1831 at Notheim [Northeim?] in
Germany. She was the wife of Wilhelm Carl Ferdinand von Linsingen (1831-1923)(married
1856-1880). She died on 13.06.1923 at Gordon's Bay in South Africa.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Carl Ferdinand von Linsingen (1831-1923), married 1856-1880
Children: Anna Judith Julie Auguste von Linsingen (married Hahn)(1861-1938)
Namibia National Archives Database
000322
Von Linsingen, Wilhelm Carl Ferdinand
* 03.03.1822 at Verden, Germany
+ 14.11.1880 at Snodgrass, Cape, South Africa
---
Wilhelm Carl Ferdinand von Linsingen was born on 03.03.1822 at Verden in Germany. He
joined the German Legion for service in the Crimea in Russia in 1854, but as hostilities
ended before the Legion could be deployed there, he decided to emigrate to the Cape Colony
in South Africa, arriving in Cape Town on 30.12.1856. He was sent to the Second Regiment,
stationed at Wiesbaden (Cape Colony), where he stayed for eleven years. In 1867, he joined
the Government Service as a police inspector with the Railways in East London, and in
1879, he was made Governor of the Breakwater Prison in Cape Town. In September 1880, he
volunteered for service during the Pondoland Rebellion, in which both he and his
sixteen-year-old son, Ernst Friedrich Georg, were killed on 14.11.1880 at Snodgrass when
they turned back to help a dehorsed comrade after the section had run into an ambush. He
was married to Bertha von Linsingen, née Siebrecht (1831-1923)(married 1856-1880).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Married to: Bertha von Linsingen, née Siebrecht (1831-1923), married 1856-1880
Children: Anna Judith Julie Auguste von Linsingen (married Hahn)
Namibia National Archives Database
000323
Von Lippe-Detmold, Augusta
* 01.10.1833 in Germany
+ 08.12.1875 in Germany
---
Augusta von Lippe-Detmold was born on 01.10.1833 . She was the Daughter of Count Albert
von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and widow of Prince Paul Friedrich Emil Leopold zur Lippe. She
was a Countess who was a member of the circle who contributed an initial sum of 2 500
Thaler towards the establishment of the Augustineum in 1862, and promised of a further 100
Thaler per year over the following 10 years. She died on 08.12.1875.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Fürst Paul Friedrich Emil Leopold Zur Lippe
Father: Albert Graf von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
RAW DATA: Diehl 1973:143; Baumann 1965:xii; Faulenbach;
001024
Von Mallinckrodt, Emil Albert Ernst
* 19.01.1878 at Wesel, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1910
---
Emil Albert Ernst von Mallinckrodt was born on 19.01.1878 at Wesel in Germany. He was
educated in Germany and came to Namibia in 1910. He was a merchant. 1921 he started in
Lüderitzbucht a business of his own and in 1927 he opened up in Windhoek. He was the
Managing Director of Ernst von Mallinckrodt (Pty)Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Theresa von Mallinckrodt, née Hambitzer
Father: Ernst von Mallinckrodt
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001025
Von Maltzahn, Anna
[Uhlig, Anna - birth name]
* 22.08.1888 at Zwickau, Germany
+ 07.09.1960 at Otavi
First entry to Namibia: 1913
---
Anna von Maltzahn, née Uhlig, was born on 22.08.1888 at Zwickau in Germany. She
married the farmer Heinrich von Maltzahn in Walvis Bay in 1913. She lived on the farm
Sissekab. She died on 07.09.1960 at Otavi.
---
Gender: f
Married to: Heinrich von Maltzahn, married 1913 -
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.391 (Diaries 1917-1920, 1936, 1954 and 1959; Reminiscences of Heinrich von
Maltzahn)
001712
Von Maltzahn, Heinrich
*
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: Anna von Maltzahn, née Uhlig (1888-1960), married 1913-
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.391 (includes reminiscences of Heinrich von Maltzahn)
001658
Von der Marwitz, Kurt Hildebrand
* 12.12.1877
+ 02.12.1904 at Rietmond
---
Kurt Hildebrand von der Marwitz was born on 12.12.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He
died in action against the Witbooi Nama near Rietmond on 02.12.1904.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001659
Von Massow, Ewald
* 02.11.1875
---
Ewald von Massow was born on 02.11.1875. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:60, 179;
001660
Von Massow, Werner
*
---
Werner von Massow was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
001661
Von Meien, Hans
* 01.12.1877
+ 17.06.1915
---
Hans von Meien was born on 01.12.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
17.06.1915.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:;
001664
Von Nauendorff, Heinrich
* 29.08.1860
+ 02.04.1905 at Gross-Nabas
---
Heinrich von Nauendorff was born on 29.08.1860. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died in
action on 02.04.1905 against the Witbooi Nama in the battle of Gross-Nabas.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:198;
001085
Von Oertzen, Fortunat Hans-Konrad Anton
* 29.06.1928 at Rostock, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1952
---
Fortunat Hans-Konrad Anton von Oertzen was born on 29.06.1928 at Rostock in Germany. He
was educated at Rostock and Spiekeroog. He came to Namibia in 1952. He was the Managing
Director of Windhoek Textile Distributors (Pty) Ltd. and J.W. Nel Co (Pty) Ltd. as well as
the Owner of Windhoek Textile Agencies and Excelsior Agency. He was married to Lieselotte
Mathilde Oertzen, née Goedeke in 1957.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Lieselotte Mathilde Oertzen, née Goedeke, married 1957-
Father: Detloff von Oertzen
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001089
Von Ostertag, Robert
* 24.03.1864 at Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1910
---
Robert von Ostertag was born 24.03.1864 at Schwäbisch-Gmünd in Germany. He studied
veterinary medicine in Stuttgart and medicine in Berlin. He was Professor of Hygiene at
the Tierärztliche Hochschule Stuttgart (1891-1892) and Berlin (1892-1907), then Director
of the Veterinary Department in the "Kaiserl. Gesundheitsamt". He travelled to
Namibia (1910) to study a sheep disease and the organisation of the veterinary services,
and to German East Africa (1913) to study rinderpest and other animal diseases. He was a
prolific author of publications in veterinary science. He was nobilitated 1913 in
Württemberg.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: VET
Profession: Veterinarian
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000618
Von Perbandt, Konradin
*
First entry to Namibia: 06.1894
Last departure from Namibia: 1899
---
Konradin von Perbrandt arrived in Namibia in June 1894 as Lieutenant of the Schutztruppe.
He was promoted to Captain in 1896 and left in 1899. No further details traced.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:340; NAN A.648;
001667
Von Petersdorff, Eberhard
* 24.10.1877
+ 05.10.1918
---
Eberhard von Petersdorff was born on 24.10.1877. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
05.10.1918.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:162, 167;
001097
Von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth, Joachim, Graf
[Von Pfeil, Joachim, Graf - short form]
* 30.12.1857 at Neurode, Schlesien, Germany (now: Poland)
+ .1924
---
Joachim von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth was born on 30.12.1857 at Neurode, Silesia in Germany
(now: Poland). He was a German colonial politician, traveller and writer. He went to farm
in South Africa in 1873. He returned to Germany in the early 1880s. He was the co-founder
of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, travelled in East Africa from 1884 to 1887,
where he also concluded treaties. He returned to Germany in 1887, travelled to the Pacific
in the employ of the Neu-Guinea-Kompagnie to lead German settlement in the Bismarck
Archipelago. He travelled to Java, returned to Germany in 1890. A travelled anew to German
East Africa in 1891, and to Namibia in 1892. He was an ardent promoter of Boer settlement
in Namibia, an undertaking which was not much favoured by the German colonial
administration.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Giesebrecht: Behandlung der Eingeborenen;
001113
Von Prittwitz und Gaffron, Joachim Bernhard Hermann
[Pix]
* at Windhoek
---
Joachim Bernhard Hermann von Prittwitz und Gaffron (Pix) was educated at
the Prussian Cadet School Schloss Bischofstein and the Ingenieursschule Hamburg. He became
a mechanical engineer and Director of Triplejay Equipment (SWA). He was a Windhoek Town
Councillor from 1964 to the 1970s. He was the Mayor of Windhoek from 1970 to 1971. He
chaired the Windhoek Motor Club, he was the President of the Ramblers Club, the Kalahari
Yacht Club and a Committee of the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS). He was married to
Hannelore Martha Prittwitz und Gaffron, née Woratz in 1954.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
Profession: Engineer
Married to: Hannelore Martha Prittwitz und Gaffron, née Woratz, married 1954-
Father: Joachim Bernard Paul Edwald Alexander von Prittwitz und Gaffron
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001786
Von Quitzow, Lieutenant
*
First entry to Namibia: 1888
---
Von Quitzow was the first commanding officer of the Schutztruppe in 1888.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:1299; Drechsler 1966:332;
001669
Von Rappard, Emil
* 26.11.1863
+ 26.09.1914 at Sandfontein
---
Emil von Rappard was born on 26.11.1863. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He explored the
Namib Desert and published about it. He died in action during World War One in the Battle
of Sandfontein on 26.09.1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:219-220;
001119
Von Rechenberg, Albrecht
* .1861
+ .1935
---
Albrecht von Rechenberg was born in 1861. He was the Governor of German East Africa
between 1906 and 1907. He was a Zentrum deputy in the Reichstag from 1913 to 1914. He was
the Vice President of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft from 1923 to 1925. He died in
1935.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
RAW DATA: Gann: Rulers;
001671
Von Reibnitz, Karl Alexander
* 19.02.1878
+ 21.07.1929
---
Karl Alexander von Reibnitz was born on 19.02.1878. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died
on 21.07.1929.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:102-103, 179;
001120
Von Richthofen, Oswald, Freiherr, Dr.
* 13.10.1847 at Jassy, Romania
+ 17.01.1906 at Berlin, Germany
---
Oswald von Richthofen was born on 13.10.1847 at Jassy in Romania. He was the son of a
Prussian Consul General. He presented Germany in the Egyptian Caisse de la Dette. He was a
Kolonialdirektor in the German Foreign Office, from 15.10.1896 to 31.03.1898. Then he was
Unterstaatssekretär in 1898. He was Staatssekretär in the German Foreign Office in 1900
and Prussian Staatsminister in 1905. He died on 17.01.1906 at Berlin.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: DIP
Profession: Diplomat Administrator
RAW DATA: Gann: Rulers; Hubatsch; Drechsler 1966:230, 347, 350;
001678
Von Saurma-Jeltsch, Wilhelm, Graf (Count)
* 25.08.1872
+ 01.02.1923
---
Wilhelm von Saurma-Jeltsch was born on 25.08.1872. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died
on 01.02.1923.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:83, 106;
000878
Von Schirp, Alexander, Dr.
* .1911 at Namatanga, Outjo District
+ 01.12.1992 in Germany
Last departure from Namibia: 1962
---
Alexander von Schirp was born at Namatanga near Outjo in 1911, where his parents owned the
farm Namatanga. He received his education in Germany (Stendal and University Göttingen,
where he graduated as Diplom-Kaufmann). After World War Two, he returned to Namibia to the
family farm Namatanga. He returned to Germany in 1962. He was a Member of the SWA
Scientific Society, where he served as President from 1957 to 1958. He died on 01.12.1992
in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Functions: President - SWA Scientific Society - 1957-1958
RAW DATA: Mitt.NWG 43,4-6;
000660
Von Schönau-Wehr, Friedrich, Freiherr
* 02.12.1869 at Wehr, Germany
+ 23.03.1949 at Sigmaringen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 06.1896
Last departure from Namibia: 1906
---
Friedrich von Schönau-Wehr was born on 02.12.1869 at Wehr in Germany. He served as
officer of the Schutztruppe from 1896 to 1906 in Namibia, and reached the rank of
Oberleutnant. He was seriously wounded in the battle of Otjihinamaparero on 25.02.1904,
and returned to Germany for some months but was deployed again to Namibia until 1906.
After his final return to Germany, he served in the Prussian Police in the rank of
Oberstleutnant. He died on 23.03.1949 at Sigmaringen. He was
married to Ursula Freifrau von Schönau-Wehr.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Ursula Freifrau von Schönau-Wehr
Children: Roderich Freiherr von Schönau-Wehr (1915-1997)
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.351
2). In family custody
RAW DATA: Mitteilungsblatt des Traditionsverbandes 85 (1999), p.66;
000388
Von Schuckmann, Bruno
* 20.12.1857 at Rohrbeck, Germany
+ 04.06.1919
First entry to Namibia: 1907
Last departure from Namibia: 1910
---
Bruno von Schuckmann was born on 20.12.1857 at Rohrbeck in Germany. He was a Prussian
estate owner. He studied law and served in the German consular service (Chicago) from 1888
to 1890. 1890 he was transferred to the Kolonialabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes. From
1896 to 1899 he was Consul-General in Cape Town. He was a Member of the Prussian Landtag
from 1904 until 1907 and again 1912 (Konservative Partei). He was the Governor of German
SWA from 1907 to 1910. He retired to his estate Rohrbeck. He was an Executive Member of
the Deutschnationaler Kolonialverein. He died on 04.06.1919.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I; Gann: Rulers; Dt.Koloniallexikon; DSAB IV:754; Drechsler 1966:115,
234-237, 241, 246, 269, 275, 361-363, 366-367;
000063
Von Schumann, Gunther
* 20.04.1939 at Omaruru
---
Gunther von Schumann was born on 20.04.1949 at Omaruru. He received his schooling in
Rustenburg, Omaruru and Swakopmund. He visited the Technikon Johannesburg, received
vocational training with the postal service and Siemens in Germany. Since 1970 he was
working for the SWA Department of Posts and Telecommunication, until his retirement in
2000. He last held the position of Head of the Philatelic Services. He is active in the
Namibia Scientific Society, National Monuments Commission and the Philatelic Society. He
is a Member of Sub-Committee: Research of the Archives of the Anticolonial Resistance and
Liberation Struggle (AACRLS) from 2001-. He is an amateur historian with several
publications. He is married to Julia von Schumann, née Arendt.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Julia von Schumann, née Arendt
Namibia National Archives Database
001148
Von Schütz, Yorck Hans Albrecht
* 23.11.1912 at Gobabis
+ Namibia
---
Yorck Hans Albrecht von Schütz was born on 23.11.1912 at Gobabis as son of a former naval
officer who farmed in Namibia. The family emigrated in 1923 via Germany to Brazil, while
von Schütz stayed for schooling in Germany and moved to Brazil in 1928. In 1932 he
returned to Namibia, and learned karakul farming at Voigtsgrund, then worked as farm
manager for the Voigts family. He was the Chairman of the Karakul Board and the
International Karakul Secretariat. He was board member of several agricultural
organisations as well as the Swabank and Bank Windhoek. He died in Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Profession: Farmer
Married to: Ursula Paula Maria Schütz, née Berens, married 1937-
Mother: ? Schütz (1888-)
Father: Julius von Schütz
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.?
001326
Von Spee, Graf
* in Germany
---
Graf von Spee was a German Admiral. In October 1884, then still a lieutenant, he
accompanied Consul-General Nachtigal to Bethany in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:72;
001864
Von Steinäcker
* in Germany
---
Von Steinäcker was one of the first Schutztruppe officers in 1888.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Esterhuyse 1968:129;
001865
Von Stempel, Baron
* in Germany
---
Von Stempel was the District Chief of Bethany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:156;
001866
Von Stempel, Nikolai
* 17.10.1875 in Sebbeen, Russia
+ 30.08.1904 at Kouchanas (||Khauxa!nas)
---
Nikolai von Stempel was born on 17.10.1875 in Sebbeen in Russia. He was a Schutztruppe
officer (Oberleutnant), killed in action against Jakob Marengo near ||Khauxa!nas
(Kouchanas, Gugunas) on 30.08.1904.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001175
Von Stengel, Karl, Freiherr
* 26.07.1840 at Peulendorf, Germany
---
Karl von Stengel was born on 26.07.1840 at Peulendorf in Germany. He studied law in
München from 1859 to 1863. He was Professor of law in Breslau (1881), Würzburg (1890)
and München (1895). He was specialised in colonial law. He served on the board of the
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft since 1885 with a honorary membership in 1911. He had
numerous publications on colonial and administrative law.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Jurist
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001871
Von Stülpnagel, Conrad
* 20.08.1875 in Germany
+ 05.11.1917
---
Conrad von Stülpnagel was born on 20.08.1875 in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
He died on 05.11.1917.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
000270
Von Trotha, Adrian Dietrich Lothar
* 03.07.1848 at Magdeburg, Germany
+ 13.03.1920 at Bonn, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1905
---
Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha was born on 03.07.1848 at Magdeburg in Germany. He was a
German General. On 24.11.1865 he joined the 2nd Prussian Guards Regiment and fought with
them in the "Seven Weeks" War against Austria, 1966. He fought in the 1870/71
Franco-Prussian war, was decorated and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. From 1894-97 he
commanded German forces in East Africa, i.a. against the Wahehe rising. He was promoted to
brigadier and commanded a German detachment in the Western allied forces against the
Yihotuan ("Boxer") Rising in China in 1900. In 1901, he travelled in Japan,
South and South East Asia. He returned to Germany in 1902, where he commanded the 16th
Division. He was sent to Namibia in May 1904, and in June that year replaced Theodor
Leutwein as Commander of the Schutztruppe, and later also as Governor. On 02.10.1904 Von Trotha issued a proclamation threatening the Ovaherero with
total extinction: "The Herero are no longer German subjects. They have murdered and
plundered. ... Now, out of cowardice, they want to give up the fight. ... The Herero
nation must leave the country. If it will not do so I shall compel it by force. Inside
German territory every Herero tribesman, armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be
shot. No women and children will be allowed in the territory: they will be driven back to
their people or fired on. These are the last words to the Herero nation from me, the great
General of the mighty German Emperor." Von Trotha’s proclamation was in effect
the mere legal sanctioning of that which, as the numerous diaries of the German Schutztruppe
soldiers showed, had already been commonplace since early 1904. Some diary entries may
serve as examples: Captain Victor Franke wrote at Otjihinamaparero on 27.02.: "A
wounded man with a terribly damaged leg is brought in . ... He is questioned and then
shot, Von Arnim executes him properly. He is shot from the back without noticing what is
happening to the unfortunate man." Lieutenant H.F.R. Knoke wrote on 08.07.1904:
"Of the five captured Herero four have been hung. The fifth is used for labour
purposes"; 09.07.: "Our prisoner has a noose around his neck which is then
attached to the saddle of a horse. The particular Witbooi ensures that things do not
become too comfortable for him"; 16.08.: "A captured Herero female was, ..., set
free. However, the bitterness of the people is great. The female had barely left the
encampment when two shots were fired. A sign that this one had also left its life.";
07.10: "As last night we had noticed a number of fires in our vicinity, we looked for
tracks this morning, ... We junior officers galloped ahead, our men followed on foot. We
took the werft [settlement], shot down part of the inhabitants, the remainder we took
along as prisoners". In the diaries of Emil Malzahn, who accompanied Von Trotha on
one of his pursuits, it was noted that prisoners taken on 26.09. at the waterhole of
Owisombo-Owidimbo, were summarily executed: "Newly caught Herero prisoners-of-war
were hung by the neck. Since that day, I would often see Herero swaying from the branch of
a tree". Von Trotha’s genocide and chain orders, however, were later mitigated
by the German Government. During a field service at Osombo-Windimbe Von Trotha announced
that the war against the Ovaherero would be continued without mercy. He claimed that
" ... Since I neither can nor will come to terms with these people without express
orders from His Majesty the Emperor and King, it is essential that all sections of the
nation be subjected to rather stern treatment. I have begun to administer such treatment
on my own initiative and, barring orders to the contrary, will continue to do so as long I
am in command here. My intimate knowledge of so many Central African tribes - Bantu and
others - has made it abundantly plain to me that Negroes will yield only to brute force,
while negotiations are quite pointless. Before my departure yesterday I ordered the
warriors captured recently to be court-martialled and hanged and all women and children
who sought shelter here to be driven back into the sandveld ... ". At dawn the
following morning, Ovaherero prisoners-of-war who had been sentenced to death by a field
court martial were hung in the presence of about 30 Ovaherero prisoners-of-war, women and
children amongst them. After the hanging, Von Trotha’s proclamation was read out to
the prisoners in Otjiherero. His notorious and extremely brutal conduct of
the German-Ovaherero War led to his recall in November 1905. To keep up appearances, he
was decorated with the Pour-le-mérite order. In May 1906 his request for discharge from
the military was granted. He lived in retirement until his death. His first wife died in
October 1905. In 1912 he married Lucy Brinkman, née Goldstein. He died on 13.03.1920 in
Bonn.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: ? (-1905), married -1905
<2>Lucy von Trotha, née Goldstein, married 1912-
Father: Thilo von Trotha
Collections/Papers:
1). Trothasches Familienarchiv des Thilo-Lebrecht von Trotha in Dieburg/Hessen
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:97, 203; A military who's who; Nuhn 1988; Deutsches
Koloniallexikon; Mommsen 1,II; Drechsler 1966: passim ; Lau 1995:253; Chronology of
Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001195
Von Uechtritz und Steinkirch, Edgar
* 05.05.1866 at Tzschocha, near Lauban, Germany (now Poland)
First entry to Namibia: 1891
---
Edgar von Uechtritz und Steinkirch was born on 05.05.1866 at Tzschocha, near Lauban in
Germany (now Poland). He was a military officer and traveller. He travelled in Brazil
(1889/90), Namibia (1891/93), and Cameroon (1893). Then he became a farmer in Namibia, but
returned to live in Gebhardsdorf in his native Silesia in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL AGR
Profession: Military officer Farmer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001903
Von Vietz, Dr.
* in Germany
---
Von Vietz was the Distriktchef of Rehoboth in 1909.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001689
Von Vollard-Bockelberg, Fritz Wilhelm
* 26.11.1876
+ 03.01.1905 at Gross-Nabas
---
Fritz Wilhelm von Vollard-Bockelberg was born on 26.11.1876. He was a Schutztruppe
officer. He died in the Battle of Gross-Nabas against the Witbooi Nama on 03.01.1905.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:198;
000069
Von Wietersheim, Anton
* 10.06.1951 at Windhoek
---
Anton von Wietersheim was born on 10.06.1951 in Windhoek. He grew up on the family's farm
"Gras", received his schooling in Windhoek (DHPS), Abitur 1970 in Windhoek. In
1971 he undertook his military service in the South African Army. From 1972 until 1975 he
undertook his university studies at Cape Town and Stellenbosch. He obtained his
B.Agric.Admin. in 1975. He was qualified as a private pilot in 1975 and a hunting guide in
1977. He established the farm school Gras in 1980. He obtained the qualification as a
South African air force pilot in 1983. He was a Member of the Executive of the SWA
Agricultural Union, Chairman of the Game Producers Association, Vice-Chairman of the
National Game Committee of SWA and Vice-Chairman of the Association of Professional
Hunters and Hunting Guides. He became a Member of the Constituent Assembly for the SWAPO
Party in 1989 and a Member of the National Assembly from 1990 until 1995. He was appointed
Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development from 1992 to 1993 and dismissed
because of disagreement with the President on the handling of a corruption affair. Later
he joined the Opposition Party, the Congress of Democrats (CoD).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL AGR
Profession: Farmer, Businessman
Functions: Deputy Minister - Ministry of Trade and Industry - 1991-1992
Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development - 1992-1993
Member of National Assembly 1990-1995
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001693
Von Wilm, Ludwig
[Ritter von Wilm, Ludwig]
* 25.11.1869
+ 16.04.1934
---
Ludwig von Wilm was born on 25.11.1869. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
16.04.1934.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:91, 213, 240-251;
001694
Von Winterfeld, Joachim
* 21.05.1873
---
Joachim von Winterfeld was born on 21.05.1873. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:179;
000698
Von Wolf, Hansheinrich
* 11.01.1873 in Germany
+ 04.09.1916 in France
First entry to Namibia: 1904
Last departure from Namibia: 1914
---
Hansheinrich von Wolf was born on 11.01.1873. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He came to
Namibia in 1904 and fought in the war until 1906. From 1906 to 1907 he had home leave. He
was married to Jayta Humphries on 08.04.1907 in Dresden. He returned to Namibia in
mid-1907, bought the farm Duwisib and started building the Duwisib Castle (designed by
architect Sander). He returned to Germany in 1914, fought in World War One and died in
action on 04.09.1916 in the battle of the Somme in France.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Married to: Jayta von Wolf, married 1907-1916
Mother: Caroline Louise von Wolf, née von Opel
Father: Ernst Hugo von Wolf
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:134, 191, 258;
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks
001936
Von Zastrow, Berengar
* 07.06.1876 in Schlesien, Germany (today Poland)
---
Berengar von Zastrow was born on 07.06.1876 in Schlesien, Germany (today Poland). He was
the Bezirksamtmann of Grootfontein 1911-1915.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001690
Vorberg, Hans Otto
* 24.11.1881
---
Hans Otto Vorberg was born on 24.11.1881. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:155, 260;
001235
Vorster, Balthazar Johannes
* 12.1915 at Jamestown, South Africa
+ 10.09.1983 at Kareedouw, South Africa
---
Balthasar Johannes Vorster was born in December 1915 at Jamestown in South Africa. He was
educated at the Stellenbosch University. During World War Two, he was a General in the
Ossewa Brandwag and interned by General Smuts. After the war, he practised as an attorney
at Johannesburg and then entered Parliament. He was Minister of Justice from August
1961 to September 1966. He succeeded H.F. Verwoerd as South African Prime Minister on
13.09.1966 after latter was assassinated, until 20.09.1978. He served as leader of the
National Party from 1966 to 1978 and as South African State President from 04.10.1978 to
04.06.1979.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Politician
RAW DATA: SA Military Whos' Who;
000325
Vos, C.J. Michael
*
---
C.J. Michael Vos was the Rhenish missionaries' main business agent, based at the Cape. By
1880, he was evidently one of the main suppliers of arms and ammunition to Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Namibia National Archives Database
001725
Voswinckel, Georg
* .1891 at Rönsahl, Germany
+ .1977
First entry to Namibia: 1912
Last departure from Namibia: 1919
---
Georg Voswinckel was born in 1891 at Rönsahl in Germany. He emigrated in 1912 to Namibia
where he farmed in Otjomikambo. He fought in World War One as reserve non-commissioned
officer. He was convicted in 1918 for the murder of a Bushman by the South Africans. He
escaped from the Windhoek prison in December 1918 together with Alfred Feuerstein, and
joined Mattenklodt in his flight to Angola. He returned to Germany in 1920, was a merchant
in Berlin, and emigrated to Angola in 1930 to grow coffee. During World War Two he stayed
in Germany. In 1949 he went back to Angola. He published his memoirs "Verfehmt,
gehetzt durch Afrika" in 1976.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
RAW DATA: AHK 1975:111-113;
002125
Vries, David, |Hai-|khauan (Berseba Nama)
[|Gurob Tsauramab - Nama name]
*
+ .1956 at Berseba
---
David Vries (Nama name |Gurob Tsauramab) was a Captain of the |Hai-|khauan (Berseba Nama).
When Captain Diederik Ruben Goliath (1933-1938) was deposed by the South Africans in 1938
and two Deputy Captains (Edward Isaak (Snr.) and David Vries (|Gurob
Tsauramab)(1938-1956)) were appointed, Edward Isaak (Snr.) declined the offer. His son
Edward Isaak (Jnr.)(||Khaub Khurimab)(1938-1959) was appointed instead. David Vries
represented the Goliath Clan until his death in 1956 but was not related to the group.
He was the sixth in the recorded genealogy of the |Hai-|khauan captains.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:255; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001914
Vries, Elias
*
---
Elias Vries was a Captain of the Baster Community of Kalkfontein, ca.1884.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001942
Waddington, A.B.
* in England
First entry to Namibia: 1860
Last departure from Namibia: 1869
---
A.B. Waddington was a British engineer who apparently came to Namibia as a tourist
together with G. Aldersley. They came by sea from Cape Town to Angra Pequeña in February
1869 and traversed Namaland and Hereroland to Lake Ngami.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ENG
RAW DATA: Tabler 1973:117;
001916
Wagner, Günter
* .1908 in Germany
+ .1952
---
Günter Wagner was an ethnologist. He worked as a government ethnologist in Windhoek,
ca.1950.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001691
Wahler, Eugen
* 05.03.1874
---
Eugen Wahler was born in 05.03.1874. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:86;
000815
Walboom, Gerrit Jan
* .1917 at Nieuw Beyenrand, Netherlands
+ 11.11.1988 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1952
---
Gerrit Jan Walboom was born in 1917 at Nieuw Beyenrand in the Netherlands. He grew up in
the Netherlands, where he studied sinology. He volunteered to fight as a German soldier in
World War Two. After the war, he studied law at Leiden. He emigrated to Namibia in 1952,
and worked at the Windhoek Magistrate Court until retirement in 1982. His hobby was
astronomy, he chaired the astronomical study group of the SWA Scientific Society and
served as Secretary of the Scientific Society from 1958 until 1962. He died on 11.11.1988
at Windhoek.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Functions: Secretary - SWA Scientific Society - 1958-1962
RAW DATA: Mitteilungen Nam.Sci.Soc. 43:7-12(2002):38;
001236
Wallis, John Peter Richard
* 10.05.1880 at Liverpool, Wales
+ 09.1957 at Finchingfield, England
---
John Peter Richard Wallis was born on 10.05.1880 at Liverpool, Wales in the United
Kingdom. He came to South Africa in 1917 when he was appointed Professor of English
Literature and Language at the University of Pretoria. He wrote biographies of Charles
John Andersson and Thomas Baines. He retired to England in 1950 and died in Finchingfield
in Essex in September 1957.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: WRI
Namibia National Archives Database
000326
Wallmann, Johann Christian
* 13.11.1811 at Quedlinburg, Germany
+ 17.04.1865 at Quedlinburg, Germany
---
Johann Christian Wallmann was born 13.11.1811 at Quedlinburg in Germany. He studied at
Halle from 1830 to 1834. From 1848, he was inspector of the Rheinische
Missionsgesellschaft at Barmen, although he was the editor of the
"Missionsfreund" from as early as 1846 already. In 1857, he published a Nama
grammar, "Formenlehre der Namasprache". During May of the same year, however, he
left the Rhenish Missionary Society, where he was appointed director. Some time after
1861, he was forced to retire, as he suffered from tuberculosis. He was married to Minna
Walther, with whom he was engaged since 1832, in 1843. He died on 17.04.1865 at
Quedlinburg in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Married to: Minna Wallmann, née Walther (-1890), married 1843-1865
Namibia National Archives Database
000516
Walter, Heinrich, Prof. Dr.
* .1898 at Odessa, Russia
+ 15.10.1989 at Stuttgart, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1932
---
Heinrich Walter was born in 1898 at Odessa in Russia. He received a science doctorate at
the University of Jena in 1920. As from 1932, he was the Director of the Institute for
Botany and the Botanical Gardens in Stuttgart. Later he was a professor at the
universities of Hohenheim and Stuttgart. Since his first visit to Namibia in
February/March 1932, he frequently returned for botanical and ecological studies, in
particular of the Namib and Kalahari. These fieldwork trips resulted in prolific
publications, including the standard work on Namibia pasturage, "Grundlagen der
Weidewirtschaft in Südwestafrika (1954, with O.H. Volk)". He died on 15.10.1989 at
Stuttgart in Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Botanist
Namibia National Archives Database
000620
Wandres, Carl
[Wandres, Karl - alternative spelling]
* 13.08.1858 at Willstadt, Germany
+ 31.01.1933 at Chemnitz, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1884
---
Carl Wandres was born on 13.08.1858 at Willstadt in Germany. He was trained as a
bookbinder. He joined the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft and was sent to Warmbad in 1884.
He worked there without interruption until 1899. During his next almost 30 years of
missionary work (in Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, and Lüderitzbucht), Wandres published more
than 20 writings about Nama and Damara, focusing on law and language. Wandres was strongly
chauvinistic, and his inflammatory sermons are said to have contributed to deep
mistrust among the Nama after the beginning of the German-Nama War of 1903 to 1908. He
died on 31.01.1933 at Chemnitz in Germany. He was married to Berta Wandres, née Stein in
1888 and to Hermine Wandres, née Gudelius in 1913.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: <1>Berta Wandres, née Stein, married 1888-
<2>Hermine Wandres, née Gudelius, married 1913-
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:251; DSAB III:851; Drechsler 1966:67, 85, 208, 336, 358;
000327
Wangemann, Hermann Theodor
* 27.03.1818 at Wilsnack, Germany
+ 18.04.1894 at Berlin, Germany
---
Hermann Theodor Wangemann was born on 27.03.1818 at Wilsnack in Germany. He studied
theology under Johann August Wilhelm Neander in Berlin from 1836 to 1840. After holding
various posts, he succeeded Johann Christian Wallmann as Director of the Berlin Mission
Society. He was appointed to this position in 1865, and held it until his death. During
his term of office, he conducted two inspection tours of the Berlin Mission Society's
station in South Africa, the first from 1866 to 1868, and the second from 1884 to 1885. He
was responsible for the introduction of the so-called "Wangemannsche
Missionsordung" in 1866.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Theologian
Namibia National Archives Database
001237
Warncke, Adolf Nikolaus
* 27.02.1914 at Rehoboth
---
Adolf Nikolaus Warncke was born on 27.02.1914 at Rehoboth. He was educated at Hamburg and
visited trade schools in Switzerland. He was a hotelier. He was a Managing Director of
Caterers (Pty) Ltd. (the proprietors of Continental Hotel), Travelair (Pty) Ltd. He served
as President of the SWA Gliding Club. He was married to Gaenor Warncke, née Logie in
1939.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Gaenor Warncke, née Logie, married 1939-
Father: Otto Warncke
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001238
Warneck, Gustav
* 06.03.1834 at Naumburg a.S., Germany
+ .1910
---
Gustav Warneck was born on 06.03.1834 at Naumburg an der Saale in Germany. He studied in
Halle. From 1871 to 1874 he was a teacher at the Rhenish Missionary Society in Barmen. In
1896 he became Professor for mission theology in Halle. He was the founder of the
"Allgemeine Missionszeitschrift" and author of several books on mission work.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Theologian
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
000351
Wasserfall, Georg
* 18.11.1858 at Thorn, Germany (now Poland)
+ 21.04.1908 at Pinneberg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1894
---
Georg Wasserfall was born in Thorn in Germany (now Poland), on 10.11.1858. He attended
school in Berlin, then studied law in Berlin (1876-1884), graduated as
"Assessor" in 1885 and subsequently practised as a lawyer in Berlin. A holiday
travel in 1894 firstly brought him on a few month visit to Namibia, and led him to the
decision to settle permanently in the colony in 1898. He practised in Windhoek as a
lawyer, but his passion was journalism, and he used his income from the legal profession
to establish the first newspaper in Namibia, the "Windhoeker Nachrichten"
(October 1898-September 1901). He experienced the closeness to the colonial administration
in Windhoek as interfering with journalistic independence, and therefore moved to
Swakopmund to re-establish the newspaper under the name "Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische
Zeitung" in 1902. His deteriorating health forced him to seek medical treatment in
Germany, but without success. He died on 21.04.1908 at Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein in
Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW JOUR
Profession: Lawyer Journalist
RAW DATA: Not to be confused with Oberleutnant Georg Wasserfall, Distriktchef of Bethany
1908-1912, Bezirksamtmann Gibeon 1913-1915;
001917
Wasserfall, Georg
* in Germany
---
Georg Wasserfall was the Distriktchef of Bethany from 1908 until 1912 and the
Bezirksamtmann of Gibeon from 1913 to 1915.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Not to be confused with the lawyer and journalist Georg Wasserfall; Hubatsch;
000883
Watt, James Shaw, Dr.
* 15.08.1906 at Clydebank, Scotland
+ 13.11.2002 at Swakopmund
First entry to Namibia: March 1929
---
James Shaw Watt was born on 15.08.1906 at Clydebank in Scotland, but grew up in South
Africa. He studied veterinary medicine in Glasgow. He came to Namibia in March 1928. He
was a Government veterinary officer in Walvis Bay from 1928 to 1931, then at Gobabis
between 1932 and 1933, Windhoek, and Okahandja. 1940 he went to South Africa, but returned
to Namibia in 1946 as Director of Agriculture in the SWA Administration (until his
retirement in 1969). After retirement, he lived in Swakopmund. He served as Chair of the
Dairy Industry Control Board and Meat Control Board. He was President of the SWA
Scientific Society between 1947 and 1955. He was married to Patricia Considine Watt, née
Simms in 1933.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Veterinarian
Functions: President - SWA Scientific Society - 1947-1955
Director of Agriculture - SWA Administration - 1946-
Married to: Patricia Considine Watt, née Simms, married 1933-2000
Father: James Shaw Watts
Children: Ian Watt
RAW DATA: Mitt.SWAWG 43,4-6 + 44,1-3; WWSA 1954, 1959, 1974;
001918
Weber, Dr.
* in Germany
---
Dr. Weber was the Distriktchef Gobabis between 1910 and 1912, and then the Bezirksamtmann
of Swakopmund from 1912 to 1913.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
000328
Weber, Friedrich Wilhelm
* 11.09.1830 at Barmen, Germany
---
Friedrich Wilhelm Weber was born on 11.09.1830 at Barmen in Germany. He was a missionary
of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft who was stationed at Berseba (1857-1860), Gobabis
(1860-1865) and Warmbad (1867-1880), but then moved to South Africa, where he was at
Tulbagh in 1882, and moved to Saron during the same year. He was married to Julie Schäfer
on 07.05.1860. They had six children.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Julie Weber, née Schäfer, married 1860
RAW DATA: Lau 1985:V1299-1300; Vergissmeinnicht 1893:36;
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks (Rhenish Church at Berseba, built by
Weber 1857)
001239
Webster, Arthur
* 27.03.1900 at Uitenhage, South Africa
---
Arthur Webster was born on 27.03.1900 at Uitenhage in South Africa. He was educated at
Stellenbosch. He was a cattle farmer in the Outjo District. He served as the SWA
representative on the South African Livestock Meat Industry Control Board and was a Member
of the SWA Meat Control Board as well as to the Commission to inquire into a long-term
marketing scheme for meat in SWA. He was an organiser of the SWA Agricultural Union,
served as the Organising Secretary, Vice-Chairperson, and finally Chairperson. He was a
Member of the SA Parliament for Middelland (1950-1958) and Etosha since 1958. He was
married to Anna Elise Webster, née Jonker in 1925 and to Gwen Staal Webster, née Scholtz
in 1958.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR POL
Profession: Farmer Politician
Married to: <1>Anna Elise Webster, née Jonker (-1948), married 1925-1948
<2>Gwen Staal Webster, née Scholtz, married 1958-
Father: Arthur Webster
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001240
Webster, Vaughan
* 06.01.1919 at Mqanduli, South Africa
---
Vaughan Webster was born on 06.01.1919 at Mqanduli in South Africa. He was educated at the
Pearson High School in Port Elizabeth. He was a Walvis Bay businessman. He was the
owner and manager of Flamingo Furnishers. He served as a Walvis Bay Municipality
councillor from 1952 to1960. He was the Walvis Bay Deputy Mayor in 1955. He was the
Chairperson of the Property Owners Association Walvis Bay. He served as the Officer-in-
Charge of Ohopoho Radio SWA, Walvis Bay Radio (1940-1946). He was the President of the
Walvis Bay Chamber of Commerce in 1956. He was married to Phyllis Webster, née
Dwight in 1944.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Phyllis Webster, née Dwight, married 1944-
Father: Samuel Henry Webster
RAW DATA: WWSA 11974;
001241
Weck, Rüdiger
* in Germany
+ 03.1915 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 10.1913
---
Rüdiger Weck was a Schutztruppe officer. He came to Namibia in October 1913. He died in
March 1915 through an accident. His diary was published posthumously by the family and
brings a few interesting details from the years of German rule in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Father: Gustav Weck
Collections/Papers:
1). Heeresarchiv Potsdam (destroyed 1945)(Papers 1909-1915)
001242
Weck, Udo Hermann
* 15.04.1943 at Windhoek
---
Udo Hermann Weck was born on 15.04.1943 at Windhoek. He was educated at the Swakopmund
High School. He was a manager in the insurance industry and manager of Oryx Safaris. He
was a Council member of Insurance Institute of SWA. He is an active horse rider, council
member of SWA Horse Society. He was married to Sophia Elizabeth Weck, née Smuts in 1967.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Sophia Elizabeth Weck, née Smuts, married 1967-
Father: Gerhard Hermann Weck
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001243
Wecke, Claude Darnton
* 12.02.1893 at Wolmaransstad, South Africa
---
Claude Darnton Wecke was born on 12.02.1893 at Wolmaransstad in South Africa. He was a son
of the founder of Wecke & Voigts, Fredrick Christian Wecke. He was educated in
Germany. In World War One he served in the German Air Force. In 1931 he was the Branch
Manager of the Karakul Centrale Marienthal. He was a merchant and karakul skin expert. He
served as a Honorary Game Warden for SWA. He was married to Annemarie Wecke, née Hofmann
in 1920.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Annemarie Wecke, née Hofmann, married 1920
Father: Fredrick Christian Wecke
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001919
Wecke, Frederick Christian
*
---
Frederick christian Wecke was a trader and co-founder of the firm Wecke & Voigts.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:148;
001244
Weder, Walter Hermann, Dr.
* 06.08.1909 at Genadendal, South Africa
---
Walter Hermann Weder was born on 06.08.1909 at Genadendal in South Africa. He was educated
at the German School Philippi in South Africa, the Wynberg Boys High School, the
Stellenbosch Boys High School and the Stellenbosch University. He was an attorney, notary,
conveyancer and sworn translator. He served as Private Secretary to SWA Administrator
Conradie and as chief translator for the SWA Administration. He was the Chairperson of the
Legislative Assembly, the President of the Hockey Association of SWA, Director of SWA
Breweries Ltd., SWA Roads Construction (Pty) Ltd. and Sandvishawe Guano Edms. Bpk. He was
married to Lenie Weder, née Brand in 1941. Günther Weder, well-known civil engineer
(roads sector) in Namibia, was his brother.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Married to: Lenie Weder, née Brand, married 1941-
Father: Emil Hermann Karl Weder
Brother: Günther Weder, known civil engineer (roads sector) in Namibia
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000329
Wegel, Friedrich Carl
* 09.12.1830 at Heiligenbeil, Germany
---
Friedrich Carl Wegel 09.12.1830 at Heiligenbeil in Germany. He was a missionary of the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft at Wuppertal from 1861 until 1868, when he left South
Africa and became a preacher in Southern Brazil. He was married to Lydia Bowin on
15.01.1864.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Lydia Wegel, née Bowin, married 1864-
RAW DATA: Vergissmeinnicht 1893:38;
001920
Wegner, E.Walter
* in Germany
---
E. Walter Wegner was an employee of August Lüderitz in Angra Pequeña.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:146, 319, 329, 348;
001921
Wehle, Captain
* in Germany
---
Captain Wehle was the Bezirksamtmann of Karibib from 1908 to 1910 and of Gibeon between
1911 and 1912.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch; Drechsler 1966:268, 366;
000330
Weikkolin, Karl August
* 07.04.1842 at Vihti, Finland
+ 07.05.1891 at Uukwambi
---
Karl August Weikkolin was born on 07.04.1842 at Vihti in Finland. He was a Finnish
missionary who landed at Walvis Bay together with five other Finnish missionaries (inter
alia Martti Rautanen and Botolf Bernhard Björklund) on 14.02.1869. He was a member of the
party which left Otjimbingwe for Ovamboland on 27.05.1870. After a meeting with Ondonga
King Shikongo sha Kalulu (1859-1874) at Omandongo on 10.07.1870, it was decided that
Weikkolin should leave for the Uukwambi area together with Rautanen, Kurvinen and
Piirainen, while the other remained behind in the Ondonga area. Together with Kurvinen and
Piirainen, he established the mission station Elim, but in 1873 he established his own
station at Ondjumba, and moved to the Uukwambi area in 1876. While on leave in Finland
from 1878 until 1879, he married. He died on 07.05.1891 at Uukwambi.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001922
Weinberg, Con, Dr.
*
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
Profession: Medical practitioner
Namibia National Archives Database
000404
Weiss, Erich
*
+ .1945
---
Erich Weiss served as Schutztruppe officer in Namibia. Was involved in the retaliatory
attack on Naulila in Angola (World War One). Allegedly died 1945 in East Prussia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Afrikanischer Heimatkalender 1976, p.110;
001245
Weiss, Jakob Paul Arnold
* 01.02.1912 at Lüderitzbucht
---
Jakob Paul Arnold Weiss was born on 01.02.1912 at Lüderitzbucht. He was educated at
Lüderitzbucht and in Germany. He was a businessman in Lüderitzbucht and proprietor of
Paul Weiss Co. He served in World War Two with the South African Air Force. He was married
to Johanna Weiss, née Lehmbrock in 1947.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Johanna Weiss, née Lehmbrock, married 1947-
Father: Paul Simon Weiss
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001246
Weiss, Johanna Maria
[Weiss, Hanna - colloquial name]
* at Köln, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1937
---
Johanna Maria Weiss was educated at Köln. She came to Namibia in 1937. She was the
Chairperson of the Pro Lüderitz Association.
---
Gender: f
Father: Heinrich Lehmbrock
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001247
Weiss, Max, Dr.
* 11.09.1901 at Augsburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1935
---
Max Weiis was born on 11.09.1901 at Augsburg in Germany. He studied law at Erlangen and
Munich, and music at the Musikakademie at Munich. Lawyer in Munich. He came to Namibia in
1935. He was a farmer in Namibia, then businessman. He served as a Windhoek City
Councillor since 1955. He was a Council Member of the SA Association of Arts SWA Branch.
He was a Council Member of the Karakul Breeders Association. He was married to Charlotte
Hel. Marg. Weiss, née Mueller.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Married to: Charlotte Hel. Marg. Weiss, née Mueller
Father: Karl Weiss
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001248
Weiss, Willi G.
* 12.12.1887 at Bavaria, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1906
---
Willi G. Weiss was born on 12.12.1887 in Bavaria in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1906.
He was closely connected with the development of Lüderitzbucht and its diamond industry.
He served on the municipal council.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Father: Jakob Weiss
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001249
Weisse, Wolfram
* .1945 in Germany
---
Wolfram Weisse studied history, theology and education in Hamburg, Mainz and Montpellier.
He published numerous publications on Third World problems, South African churches and
Apartheid. He was a teacher in Hamburg.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000067
Weitzel, Wilhelm, Dr.
* 23.06.1907 at Eisleben, Germany
+ 28.10.2000 at Windhoek
First entry to Namibia: 1938
---
Wilhelm Weitzel was born on 23.06.1907 in Eisleben in Germany. He studied at the
University of Jena (1932 Dr.phil.nat.). He was married to Hedwig Käte Elise
Schultze from Namibia in 1936 and came to Namibia in 1938. During World War Two he
underwent internment in Andalusia between 1940 and 1944. He returned to Namibia in 1949.
His particular activity was about the promotion of the German language and German schools
in Namibia, in particular the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS) in Windhoek. He was a
founding and board member of the Interessengemeinschaft Deutschsprachiger Südwester (IG)
in 1977 and President of the IG 1982-86. He was awarded the "Bundesverdienstkreuz 1.
Klasse" in 1968.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ED
Functions: President - Interessengemeinschaft Deutschsprachiger Südwester (IG)
Married to: Hedwig Käte Elise Weitzel, née Schultze, married 1936
Children: Hedwig Luise Weitzel
Gustav Hermann Weitzel
Namibia National Archives Database
000428
Weitzenberg, Arno
*
---
Arno Weitzenberg was a Schutztruppe officer in the rank of Hauptmann, who resigned from
the military in 1910 and established an ostrich farm in the Swakop river valley, which was
however destroyed by the 1917 flood. After World War One, he returned to Germany.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL AGR
Profession: Military officer, farmer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:261;
001924
Wellmann
*
---
Wellmann was a Hafenbauinspektor, Baurat. He was the Bezirksamtmann for Rehoboth in 1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch;
001250
Wellmer, Gottfried
* in Germany
---
Gottfried Wellmer was a German journalist and anti-apartheid activist. He was a Member of
the Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Informationsstelle
Südliches Afrika (ISSA). He presented several research papers around issues relevant to
Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: JOU
Namibia National Archives Database
001925
Welsch, Heinrich
* 03.09.1875 at Hohensolms, Germany
+ .1927
First entry to Namibia: 1904
---
Heinrich Welsch was born on 03.09.1875 at Hohensolms in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1904. He was stationed in
Ovamboland. He was married to Line Welsch, née Heck in 1906.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Line Welsch, née Heck, married 1906-
Namibia National Archives Database
001926
Welwitsch, Friedrich
* in Austria
---
Friedrich Welwitsch was an Austrian botanist who spent many years researching the Angolan
flora. The Welwitschia plant, which he found in southern Angola, is named after him.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Botanist
Namibia National Archives Database
001251
Wenhold, Adolf Johannes Ernst
* 15.02.1911 at Rustenberg, South Africa
---
Adolf Johannes Ernst Wenhold was born on 15.02.1911 at Rustenberg in South Africa. He was
educated at Rustenburg. He was the SWA Manager of the Unie Vleis Beperk, Director of
Damara Meat Packers Ltd., Boere Finansierings Korporasie Bpk., Straubes Ltd. and De Jongs
Ltd. He was married to Susara Marthina Jakoba Wenhold, née Pretorius in 1942.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Susara Marthina Jakoba Wenhold, née Pretorius, married 1942-
Father: Johannes Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Wenhold
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
000738
Werder, S.
*
---
S. Werder was apparently a trader. He appears in Hendrik Witbooi's "Debt Book"
as a creditor in 1891.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Not traced in Table, Esterhuyse, Lenssen. - Could it be Schluckwerder?;
001252
Werner, Heinrich, Dr.
* 14.05.1874 at Mühlhausen/Thüringen, Germany
+ .1946
First entry to Namibia: 1904
---
Heinrich Werner was born on 14.05.1874 at Mühlhausen/Thüringen in Germany. He studied
medicine in Berlin, from 1893 to 1899. Between 1900 and 1902 he was Assistenzarzt and
Oberarzt of the Schutztruppe in German East Africa. From 1904 until 1906 he took part in
the German-Namibian War as Stabsarzt of the Schutztruppe. From 1906 to 1913 he served at
the Institut für Schiffs- und Tropenkrankheiten in Hamburg. In 1914 he was Oberstabsarzt
and Medizinalreferent in Cameroon. He has written many scientific publications. He died in
1946.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED MIL
Profession: Medical practitioner Military officer
RAW DATA: Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001927
Werner, Martin
* 11.10.1886 at Zwenka/Sachsen, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1914
---
Martin Werner was born on 11.10.1886 at Zwenka/Sachsen in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft. He came to Namibia in 1914. He was stationed in
Okombahe.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Namibia National Archives Database
001928
Werner, Robert
* 25.08.1891 at Jettenburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1913
---
Robert Werner was born at 25.08.1891 at Jettenburg in Germany. He was a farmer of the the
Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft at Gaub. He came to Namibia 1913.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Namibia National Archives Database
001253
Werner, Wolfgang, Dr.
* in Namibia
---
Wolfgang Werner studied history in Cape Town and London. He served as a Director of Lands
in the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation between 1990 and 1994. He was a
Senior Researcher at NEPRU from 1994-2002. He is a Consultant since 2002.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: HIS
Profession: Historian
Namibia National Archives Database
001929
Werth, Albertus Johannes
* 06.03.1888
+ 04.03.1948
---
Albertus Johannes Werth was born on 06.03.1888. He was Administrator of South West Africa
between April 1926 and March 1932. He died on 04.03.1948.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM POL
Namibia National Archives Database
000727
Westphal, Charlie
*
---
Charlie Westphal was apparently a trader in Walvis Bay (?) in 1888. He is listed in
Witbooi's "Debt Book" as a creditor. No further details traced.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
RAW DATA: Not mentioned in Tabler 1973 and Lenssen.;
001930
Whindus, E.J., Captain
*
---
E.J. Whindus was a Magistrate of Walvis Bay in 1882.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM
Namibia National Archives Database
001254
Whitelock, Keith
*
First entry to Namibia: 1987
---
Keith Whitelock was a General Manager of CDM since 1987. He was previously General Manager
of the Orapa Diamond Mine in Botswana.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIN
Namibia National Archives Database
001256
Widlok, Thomas, Dr.
*
---
Thomas Widlok was an anthropologist (Ph.-D. London 1994). He researched among the San in
Namibia, in particular Hai|om, and in Australia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SOC
Profession: Anthropologist
Namibia National Archives Database
000068
Wiechers, Marinus, Prof. Dr.
* 14.10.1937 at Pretoria, South Africa
---
Marinus Wiechers was born on 14.10.1937 in Pretoria in South Africa. He received his
schooling and study of law in Pretoria. In 1965 he obtained his Dr.LLB with a dissertation
on administrative law. He was an adviser for constitutional matters at the Turnhalle
Conference in 1976 and the Multi-Party Conference in 1984.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer, University teacher
Namibia National Archives Database
001257
Wiessner, Polly
*
---
Polly Wiessner was an anthropologist (Ph.-D. Michigan) who researched among the San in
Botswana.
---
Gender: f
Field of activity: SOC
Profession: Anthropologist
Namibia National Archives Database
001692
Willeke, Franz
* 17.11.1872
---
Franz Willeke was born on 17.11.1872. He was a Schutztruppe officer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:80-81, 84-87, 139; Drechsler 1966:238, 362;
000042
Willem, Gabriel
*
---
Gabriel Willem was charged in May 1976 in the Windhoek Supreme Court under the Terrorism
Act with involvement in housebreaking and in the murder of four whites and a black police
sergeant. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, with three years suspended.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
001258
Williams, Hilary Peredur
* 18.06.1918 at Port Elizabeth, South Africa
---
Hilary Peredur Williams was born on 18.06.1918 at Port Elizabeth in South Africa. He was
educated at the University of Cape Town. He was a factory manager and director of Luderitz
Walvis Fishing Co. He was married to Virginia Mary de Bracy Williams, née Hopkins in
1943.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Virginia Mary de Bracy Williams, née Hopkins, married 1943-
Father: Lambert Frederick Williams
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001259
Williams, Tony, Dr.
* in England
First entry to Namibia: 1982
---
Tony Williams came to Namibia in 1982 as a curator of birds at the State Museum, later as
senior research officer in the Directorate of Nature Conservation.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Profession: Ornithologist
Namibia National Archives Database
001260
Willis, William Austin
* 17.05.1914 at Belfast, North Ireland
First entry to Namibia: 29.12.1951
---
William Austin Willis was born on 17.05.1914 at Belfast in North Ireland. He was a Master
Mariner. He came to Namibia in 1951. He was a Director of Willis Lund and Company Shipping
Line. He was married to Veronica Frances Willis, née Thompson in 1950.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Veronica Frances Willis, née Thompson, married 1950
Father: Frederick William Willis
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
00723
Wilmer, Henry Carrington
*
+ at Soutpansberg District, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 07.1874
---
Henry Carrington Wilmer was a British hunter and trader who came by sea from Cape Town to
Walvis Bay in the employ of C. Thomas in July 1874. He hunted and traded from Omaruru
northwards to Angola and Ovamboland. Later he traded from Walvis Bay, where he conferred
with William Coates Palgrave on his last mission to Namibia in 1884. He established the
Hope Mining Company in 1882 with two partners on a concession from Topnaar Captain Piet
||Haibeb ||Gamab, and sold it in August 1883 to Scheidweiler and Hasenclever. He is listed
as a creditor in Witbooi's "Debt Book" 1888.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Trader
RAW DATA: More details in Tabler 1973:121-122; Palgrave 1991:15, 162, 211, 312-313, 316,
396-197 ; Lenssen 1994:6,8;
000621
Wimmer, Gert
[Wimmert, Gert - alternative spelling]
*
---
Gert Wimmer was a leader of the Hoachanas Baster community, obviously a descendant of
German missionary Wimmer (from Steinkopf) and his second wife, a native of Steinkopf.
Between August and November 1888, the Baster led by Wimmer negotiated their move from
Hoachanas to Lidfontein (together with Jan Visser), and a little later to Hoornkrans, as
followers of Hendrik Witbooi. Their negotiation partners were Hendrik Witbooi, Manasse
!Noreseb, and Rhenish Missionary Judt.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Quellen 6:28.11.88; Hahn 1984/85:96;
001261
Winckler, Rudolf Woldemar
* 15.02.1916 at Bredasdorp District, South Africa
First entry to Namibia: 1936
---
Rudolf Woldemar Winckler was born on 15.02.1916 at Bredasdorp District in South Africa. He
was educated at the Stellenbosch NHS. He came to Namibia in 1936. He was the Manager of
Hudson's Bay Cannings (Pty) Ltd., Director of Auas Handel (Edms) Bpk. and other companies.
He was married to Cora Dina Winckler, née Rall in 1944.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Married to: Cora Dina Winckler, née Rall, married 1944
Father: W. Winckler
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959, 1974;
000622
Windstaan, Hendrik, ||Ô-gain Captain (Groot Doden)
[Wendstaan, Hendrik - alternative spelling]
[|Garib #Oamab - Nama name]
[Kol - alternative name]
[Dabimab - Nama name]
*
---
Hendrik Windstaan was also known as Kol, or by his Nama name |Garib #Oamab. He succeeded
Jager #Aimab in the 1860s or 1870s (?). He was the leader of the Nama group of the
||Ô-gain or Groot Doden (not before 1876). The size and significance of the ||Ô-gain is
difficult to establish on the basis of existing records. On 13.06.1882 the Rhenish
missionaries Diehl, Krönlein and Eich negotiated a peace record between the Ovaherero and
most of the Nama communities, including Hendrik Windstaan of the ||Ô-gain community.
There appears to have been no direct involvement with missionaries, nor any direct
participation in the political and diplomatic power struggles characterising much of 19th
century history in central Namibia, with the exception of the conflict with Hendrik
Witbooi after 1884. Although Kol joined Hendrik Witbooi in his major move north in 1885,
the ||Ô-gain are on record as having fought together with Paul Visser against Moses and
Hendrik Witbooi after September 1887. By July 1888 (Moses Witbooi was killed by Paul
Visser on 22.02.1888) they seem to have been defeated fairly decisively by Hendrik
Witbooi. However, Kol is on record again as having joined forces against Hendrik Witbooi
with a section of the ||Hawoben (Veldschoendragers) late in 1889. In 1891 he lived among
the Ovaherero at Okahandja.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:251; Quellen 17:13.11.1885, 16.9.1887, 11.7.1888, 19.7.1888 BRMG
1889:358-59; Hugo v.François: Nama und Damara, p.80,98,146,223; Chronology of Namibian
History, 2003 (Dierks);
001262
Winter, Colin O'Brien
* 10.10.1928 at Stoke-on-Trent, England
+ .1981
First entry to Namibia: 1964
Last departure from Namibia: 1972
---
Colin O'Brien Winter was born on 10.10.1928 at Stoke-on-Trent in England. He was educated
at Loughborough College, Lincoln College Oxford and Ely Theological College. He was the
Curate of St. Andrews Church, Eastbourne in 1956 and Rector at Simonstown in South Africa
between 1959 and 1964. He was appointed Dean of the St. George's Cathedral, Windhoek, in
1964. He became Bishop of Damaraland on 17.11.1968. He took a strong stand against migrant
labour conditions and political repression in his diocese, and was consequently deported
by South Africa in 1972. Henceforth "Bishop in exile", he remained engaged in
the struggle of Namibians.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Functions: Bishop of Damaraland - 1968-
RAW DATA: Dickie/Rake 1973;
000070
Wipplinger, Otto, Prof. Dr.sc.ing.
* .1914 at Britstown, South Africa
+ .1984
First entry to Namibia: 1938
Last departure from Namibia: 1966
---
Otto Wipplinger was born in 1914 at Britstown in South Africa. He received his schooling
in Britstown, Kassel and Stellenbosch. He studied engineering in Cape Town (B.Sc. and
M.Sc.Eng.) and Stellenbosch (Dr.Sc.Eng.). He was a civil engineer in road construction in
Transvaal and the Cape Province between 1935 and 1938. He came to Namibia as a water
engineer employed by the Administration in 1938. He was Director for Public Works and
Water Affairs in the SWA Administration from 1952 to 1966. He returned to South Africa as
Professor for civil engineering at the University of Stellenbosch from 1967 until 1979. He
retired in 1980. Wipplinger was renowned for initiating many positive developments in
Namibian water engineering. For a detailed assessment see C. Stern and B. Lau, Namibian
water resources and their management (Windhoek 1990).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM EN
Profession: Civil engineer
Functions: Director (Public Works and Water Affairs)- SWA - 1952-1966
RAW DATA: Vom Schutzgebiet bis Namibia (2002);
000850
Wiss, Hans-Joachim
* .1903 at Eibenstock/Aue, Germany
+ .1991 in Windhoek
---
Hans-Joachim Wiss was born in 1903 at Eibenstock/Aue in Germany. He received agricultural
training in Oschatz and Hildesheim in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1923 and worked first
as farm manager, until in 1927 he bought the farm Otjiseva. During World War Two, he
underwent internment in Andalusia, where he studied botany at the "camp
university". He became a member of the SWA Scientific Society and established its
"Botanical Working Group" together with Willy Giess in 1960. He served on the
board of the Scientific Society from 1955 to 1974 (1960-1961 as President) and chaired the
Botanical Working Group until his death in Windhoek in 1991. He was married to Irmela
Wiss.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: AGR
Functions: President - SWA Scientific Society - 1960-1961
Married to: Irmela Wiss
RAW DATA: Mitt.NWG 43,4-6;
000279
Witbooi, Adam
*
---
Adam Witbooi was a combatant of Hendrik Witbooi who in May 1906 reported to the Cape
Police.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:234, 360;
000280
Witbooi, Christian
*
---
Christian Witbooi was a combatant of Hendrik Witbooi who in May 1906 reported to the
Cape Police.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:360;
002183
Witbooi, David, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[|Hubuob !Nansemab - Nama name]
[Witbooi, Izak - alternative spelling]
* 29.07.1871 at Gibeon
+ 09.07.1955 at Gibeon
---
David Witbooi (|Hubuob !Nansemab) was born on 29.07.1871 at Gibeon. He was Hendrik
Witbooi's son, and elected as successor in the captainship after his brother's, Isaak
Witbooi's, death on 28.10.1928. He was the fifth in the recorded genealogy of the
|Khowesin. Hosea Kutako (together with Nikanor Hoveka) was the
first to petition the United Nations in order to put Namibia under British trusteeship in
1946. Another petitioner was David Witbooi. His successor was Hendrik Samuel
Witbooi (!Gae-nûb !nagamâb !Nansemab)(1955-1978). He died on 09.07.1955 at Gibeon.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:256; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000265
Witbooi, Hendrik, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
A Reflection on the German-Nama War, 1903-1908 (1913)
[Witboi, Hendrik - alternative spelling]
[!Nanseb gaib |Gâbemab - Nama name]
[Korota - Ovaherero name]
[Otjikorota - pejorative Ovaherero name]
[Kort - nickname]
* ca.1830 at Pella (?), South Africa
+ 29.10.1905 at Vaalgras (Koichas)
---
Hendrik Witbooi (!Nanseb gaib |Gâbemab) was the Captain of the |Khowesin or Witbooi Nama.
He was born ca. 1830 at Pella (?) in South Africa. He succeeded his father Moses Witbooi
in 1888. He was the third in the recorded genealogy of the |Khowesin. Hendrik Witbooi was
one of the most important figures in Namibian history.
On 03.12.1864 the Nama captains ||Oaseb, Hendrik Henricks and #Aimab attacked the Witbooi Nama in Gibeon, which was devastated. The ||Oaseb coalition represented the anti-missionary movement. Kido Witbooi’s grandson, Hendrik Witbooi (Moses Witbooi’s son), was wounded in the skirmish. During the Nama-Ovaherero War in the 1880s, Hendrik Witbooi moved against the Ovaherero under Maharero who had moved in 1883 to Onguheva, south of Aris (14.06.1884). On 24.06.1884 Hendrik Witbooi made peace with Maharero after the indecisive battle in Onguheva. Consequently it was arranged that Windhoek and Gobabis, which both had been destroyed, should be rebuilt.
Witbooi was the strongest adversary to the German colonial oppression of Namibia. He vehemently opposed the "selling of ground" to, and the establishment of "protection treaties" with the Germans. For the Germans, however, the only colony considered as suitable for extensive settlement by Europeans (Germans) was Namibia. German settler ideology envisaged to create a "New Germany". Under these conditions, any challenge to colonial rule was tantamount to disparaging national honour and grandeur. Within less than two decades, German colonial rule had resulted to subdue the various Namibian communities into this settlement philosophy by a policy of "divide and rule". This policy was designed to further the settlement project and, with the words of Theodor Leutwein, "to gradually accustom the natives to the new dispensation. Of their former independence, nothing but memories would be left for them". The lands occupied by the Ovaherero and Nama would be alienated and turned into farms for German settlers, the herds of cattle would gradually pass over into the hands of those settlers, and the Namibian indigenes themselves would be turned into landless workers on the lands they formerly considered their heritage.Theodor Leutwein later reported that the majority of "protection treaties" with Namibian communities were established under direct German military pressure.
In 1885 Hendrik Witbooi moved to Rehoboth. On 17.10.1885 he was defeated by Maharero in the battle of Osona (Witbooi lost his two sons: Jeremia and Salomo, a third one, Jesaias, was wounded), although both sides were prepared to strengthen the peace agreement of Onguheva. Thereafter Witbooi moved to Gurumanas. During the same period Moses Witbooi, Hendrik's father, moved to Warmbad to avoid being forced into a "protection treaty" by the Germans (with the involvement of the former Rhenish Missionary Carl Gotthilf Büttner). Consequently Büttner demanded that Hendrik Witbooi should be "eliminated" as he would constitute a major threat to all German interests in the territory. On 17.04.1886 Hendrik Witbooi again attacked Maharero at Okahandja, but was defeated. The Ovaherero followed Hendrik to Hoachanas. On 24.04.1887 Hendrik attacked the Ovaherero in Otjimbingwe. Even Göring’s horse was taken by the Witbooi Nama, but was later returned. On 03.06.1887 Witbooi again attacked Otjimbingwe but had to flee. The Witbooi Nama moved in the direction of Tsaobis. Due to the continued wars initiated by Hendrik Witbooi, the Rhenish Missionary Society closed the mission station at Gibeon. Missionary Rust moved consequently to Gochas to the Fransman or !Khara-khoen Nama where he died on 30.03.1894. Hendrik Witbooi and his ally !Hoëb ||Oasmab (also named Fritz Lazarus ||Oaseb) of the Kai||khaun from Hoachanas (who became Manasse !Noreseb’s opponent and rival chief), engaged Moses Witbooi's rival, Paul Visser, in a series of skirmishes but failed to attain victory. Karl "Ses" Hendrik from the ||Hawoben was killed in one of these skirmishes. On 22.02.1888 Paul Visser shot the Witbooi Captain, Moses Witbooi, who was succeeded by his son, Hendrik Witbooi. Hendrik was directly confronted by Visser’s allies, Manasse !Noreseb, Hendrik Windstaan of the Groot Doden, Jan Jonker Afrikaner and sections of the ||Hawoben. In June, July and September 1888 Hendrik Witbooi again attacked Otjimbingwe. On 12.08.1888 Hendrik killed Paul Visser. Between August 1888 and April 1889 he undertook several attacks on Manasse !Noreseb of the Kai||khaun. In October 1888 Hendrik met Göring at Rehoboth, but, again, refused to conclude a "protection treaty" with the Germans. In November 1888 Hendrik Witbooi joined forces with the Chief of the Bondelswarts (!Gami-#nun), Wilhelm Christian, against sections of the ||Hawoben. Other Namaland chiefs, such as Chief Tseib of the Kharo-!oan in Keetmanshoop, Jakobus Isaak of Berseba and Joseph Frederiks II of Bethany, were also involved. The ensuing maze of negotiations, commando mobilisations and threats all focussed on the position and overall leadership of Hendrik Witbooi (until April 1889). Rhenish Missionary Friedrich Judt reported that Hendrik Witbooi mainly lived in the area of Hoachanas during this time. He managed to unravel the complex knots of Namaland politics, while simultaneously bearing in mind the hostile Ovaherero and the German colonial advances. In April 1889 !Hoëb ||Oasmab (Fritz Lazarus ||Oaseb) again joined Hendrik Witbooi. Manasse !Noreseb from the Kai||khaun of Hoachanas sought the protection of the Ovaherero Chief Maharero and settled at Seeis. On 10.08.1889, during the Battle of Tsaobis between Hendrik Witbooi and the Orlam Afrikaners under Jan Jonker Afrikaner, Jan Jonker was killed by his son, Phanuel Afrikaner, because Phanuel opposed peace negotiations with Witbooi.
Hendrik Witbooi initiated the resistance struggle against the Germans in 1890. On 20.05.1890 Göring wrote to Hendrik Witbooi from Okahandja in order to make peace and urged him to move from Hornkranz to Gibeon. He further informed Witbooi that the Ovaherero were again under German protection. In his reply (dated 29.05.1890) Hendrik Witbooi informed Göring that the Witbooi Nama would maintain their independence. Witbooi was the only leader who consistently refused to sign a "protection treaty" with the Germans. One day later he wrote to Maharero: "You will eternally regret that you have given your land and your right to rule into the hands of the whites." On 15.09.1890 Hendrik Witbooi attacked and destroyed Otjimbingwe after the Ovaherero, hoping for German protection which was not forthcoming, tried to pursue the Nama. On 18.02.1892 Witbooi was defeated by the Ovambanderu in the battle of Otjihaenena. On 05.07.1892 Ovaherero and Ovambanderu under the leadership of Assa Riarua (son of Maharero’s former advisor Riarua), as well as Nikodemus Kavikunua, Daniel, Barnabas and Justus Kavizeri, attacked Hendrik Witbooi’s stronghold Hornkranz but were defeated. On their way back to Windhoek, the unsuspecting Ovaherero were attacked by some German settlers under the command of John Ludwig. Two Ovaherero were killed, some were wounded and cattle were driven off. This incident was not followed up by the German authorities, and Samuel Maharero’s faith in the Germans was shaken. On 08./09.07.1892 Witbooi refused to relinquish his independence when Curt von Francois visited him at Hornkranz in order to try to again persuade him to conclude a "protection treaty". Witbooi answered von Francois: "Africa belongs to us! Both through the hue of our skin and in our way of life do we belong together, and this Africa is in its entirety our own country. The fact that we possess a variety of chieftainships and diverse territories does not imply any secondary division of Africa and does not sever our solidarity ... The emperor of Germany has no business in Africa whatsoever." In August 1892, Hendrik Witbooi turned to the British colonial authorities in the Cape Colony. He reported to them that the Germans were oppressing his people and depriving them of their legitimate possessions. Furthermore they were enforcing laws alien to the country and its peoples, and preventing free trade. "We knew you - you never came to steal our country. You conducted trade with us - and did not deprive us of our freedom." Witbooi never received an answer from Cape Town. In November 1892, a peace treaty was agreed between Hendrik Witbooi and the Ovaherero, because Witbooi perceived their conflict to be secondary to the threat posed by German colonialism. This peace treaty led to the employment of increased German troops in the colony. On 12.04.1893 Von Francois attacked Hornkranz, killing 88 women and children, but failed to defeat Hendrik Witbooi and his troops (First Hornkranz battle). Subsequently Witbooi followed the Germans and drove off most of the German military horses in the vicinity of Windhoek (including the horses of the trader August Schmerenbeck). On 11.05.1893 Von Francois again attacked Hornkranz, this time together with some Basters from Rehoboth under the leadership of Hans Diergaardt (Second Hornkranz battle). The Germans were again unsuccessful in defeating Witbooi. Other Basters joined later Witbooi. On 20.05.1893 Hendrik Witbooi attacked the Germans in the skirmish of Naos. Six days later he attacked Windhoek. Hornkranz which was occupied by the Germans since April, was abandoned on 05.07.1893. On 10.07.1893 he attacked the Germans in the skirmish of Gurumanas. Georg Hartmann reported on 30.07.1893 that Hendrik Witbooi was rightfully defending his independence against the Germans; that he had never harmed any "white" or stolen anything from them and that the Witbooi Nama maintained high discipline at all times. In August 1893 Hendrik Witbooi attacked 17 wagons at Diepdal (transport by Gerd Wiese) and Horibes (transport by August Schmerenbeck) in the Swakop valley, effectively bringing transportation between the coast and Windhoek to a standstill. On 24.09.1893 Von Francois attacked Hornkranz for the third time (Third Hornkranz battle). He again was not able to defeat Hendrik Witbooi. On 06.11.1893 the Kubub agricultural station near Aus was attacked and destroyed by Hendrik Witbooi. The manager of the station, Ernst Hermann, moved to his farm Nomtsas. On 07.12.1893 Von Francois attacked Hornkranz for the fourth time (Fourth Hornkranz battle). This time the Witbooi Nama suffered a defeat. On 24.01.1894 a skirmish between the Germans and Hendrik Witbooi took place in the Naukluft Mountains. The Germans under the command of Carl Seiler suffered a defeat.
On 27.08.1894 Theodor Leutwein, successor of Von Francois who was called back to Germany due to his inability to deal with Hendrik Witbooi, attacked the Witbooi Nama under Hendrik Witbooi in the Naukluft Mountains. After the Naukluft Battle both armies were exhausted. The Germans suffered many casualties (27% losses). Leutwein noted that strategically little had been won. The Witbooi force was inside the mountain and the Germans were outside when Witbooi offered a conditional surrender which Leutwein immediately accepted. A "protection treaty" was signed 13 days later. The Witboois were allowed to possess arms and had a certain degree of autonomy. The treaty was respected for 10 years. On 24.12.1894, during a visit to the Rhenish missionary station at Keetmanshoop, Hendrik Witbooi expressed the following: "There are understanding men among the Germans, who can make allowances for our character as Namas and treat us accordingly; but there are also ruthless men who only can give orders, and they frighten me. They will take their revenge on us, and will seduce our women, despising us." At the end of 1895 Hendrik Witbooi escaped to Rietfontein in the Cape because he distrusted the Germans, especially Major Mueller, new Deputy Commander of the German troops. While in South Africa, Witbooi thanked some South African newspapers for their support during his struggle against German colonialism. Hendrik Witbooi supported the Germans from 1895 until October 1904, even participating in several wars of the German colonial authorities against Namibian communities (1895: against the Khauas Nama, Fransman Nama and !Gami-#nun (Bondelswarts); 1896: against the Ovambanderu and Khauas Nama; 1897: against the Orlam Afrikaners; 1897/98: against the Topnaar (!Gomén) and ||Khau-|gõan (Swartboois); 1901: against the Baster (Grootfontein South); 1903: against the !Gami-#nun (Bondelswarts) and 1904: against the Ovaherero).
In January 1904, Samuel Maharero wrote two letters to Hendrik Witbooi, which, however, never reached him. In the second letter Samuel wrote to Hendrik: "All our obedience and patience with the Germans is of little avail, for each day they shoot someone dead for no reason at all. Hence I appeal to you, my Brother, not to hold aloof from the uprising, but to make your voice heard so that all Africa may take up arms against the Germans. Let us die fighting rather than die as a result of maltreatment, imprisonment or some other form of calamity." The Germans were originally supported by Hendrik Witbooi, but in October 1904 Witbooi was prompted to revolt against German rule by the countless murders and ruthlessness of the Germans, in the light of which – especially after the Waterberg battle in August 1904 – Witbooi’s soldiers realised that the Germans were bent on wiping out all Africans regardless of their tribe or sex. At the end of August 1904, after the Waterberg (Ohamakari) Battle, some Witbooi Nama soldiers escaped with their weapons to Gibeon, fearing the same treatment as the Ovaherero from the Germans. This fear influenced Hendrik Witbooi to take up arms against German colonialism. The remaining Witbooi Nama soldiers were disarmed and deported to the German colonies Cameroon and Togo where many died. The most important single factor in triggering the uprising of the Nama under the command of Hendrik Witbooi was the threat of the "white" extremists to "make it hot" for the Nama after the crushing of the Ovaherero uprising. The threats ranged from the disarming of the Nama to the elimination of their group leaders and the dissolution of their tribal system.
On 03.10.1904 Hendrik Witbooi rose against the Germans after the Ovaherero’s defeats, apparently influenced by Jakob Marengo’s successful ||Khauxa!nas skirmish against the Germans in August 1904. He clearly understood that "peace will spell death for me and my nation, for I know that there is no place for me in your midst". The !Gami-#nun under Jakob Marengo and Johannes Christian (300-400 armed men), the ||Hawoben under Jan Hendrik (150-200 armed men), the Fransman or !Khara-khoen Nama under Simon Koper (600-700 armed men), the Bethany Nama under Cornelius Frederiks (300-400 armed men) and the Kai||khaun under Manasse !Noreseb from Hoachanas (90-100 armed men) united behind Hendrik Witbooi in their resistance struggle against the Germans. The new war in the south was quite different to the war in the north. While the Germans fought against the Ovaherero in relatively few battles and defeated them in the decisive Waterberg (Ohamakari) Battle in August 1904, the war in the south took a new turn. The Nama forces tried to avoid a decisive battle and involved the Germans instead in an endless guerrilla warfare with numerous skirmishes (more than 200). On 04.10.1904 Bezirksamtmann von Burgsdorff was killed by the Witbooi Nama Salomon Saal in Marienthal. Consequently Von Trotha gave Leutwein command over the southern front. On the same day, the post offices at Gochas and Marienthal were destroyed by Hendrik Witbooi. Many male farmers including Boers were killed by the Witbooi units. Among them was the farmer Ernst Hermann from Nomtsas. Hendrik Witbooi was opposed to the killing of females and Boers. The first Boers killed were apparently exterminated by accident. Once the killing started, there was no turning back and many Boers joined the German forces. On 27.10.1904 (and again on 22.11.1904) the battle of Kub (Ober-Packriem) was fought between Witbooi Nama and a German unit under Captain von Krüger. On 04.11.1904 Witbooi wrote to Leutwein: "As you point out, I have for ten years stood in your law, under your law, and behind your law – and not I alone but all the chiefs of Africa. For this reason I fear God the Father. All the souls which have for the last ten years perished from all the nations of Africa and from among all the chiefs, without guilt or cause, and under treaties of peace, accuse me, I will have to answer a great reckoning to God ... ." At the beginning of December, the battles of Naris and Rietmond were fought between Witbooi Nama and the Germans under Von Deimling. The Germans tried to attack Hendrik Witbooi with three units: the Unit Meister approached with 223 soldiers via the Auob River from the north; the Unit Ritter attacked with 110 soldiers via Aukam from the west and the Unit Lengerke attacked with 300 soldiers via Koës and Persip from a south-westerly direction. On the 01.01.1905 the battle of Stamprietfontein was fought between Hendrik Witbooi and the Germans under Major Meister. From 02./04.01.1905 the battle of Groß Nabas was fought between Hendrik Witbooi and the Germans, with heavy losses on both sides (32% on the German side). Together with the Nama, an Ovaherero unit fought under the command of Frederick Maharero, son of Samuel Maharero. On 24.01.1905 Hendrik Witbooi was wounded in action at Schürfpenz, between Stamprietfontein and Lidfontein. On 07.04.1905 Germans under Captain Manger attacked the united Nama forces under Hendrik Witbooi and Simon Koper at Nanibkobis, near the Koaeib River (present-day Olifant’s River). Witbooi Nama Headman Salomon Saal died of thirst after the battle.
On 22.04.1905 Von Trotha gave his notorious proclamation to the Nama at Berseba: "The mighty and powerful German Emperor will grant mercy to the Hottentot people and will spare the lives of those who voluntarily surrender. Only those who at the beginning of the uprising murdered whites or who ordered others to do so will forfeit their lives in accordance with the law. I announce this to you and further say that those few who do not submit will suffer the same fate as the Hereros, who in their blindness believed that they could carry on successful war with the mighty German Emperor and the great German people. I ask you where are all the Hereros to day, where are their chiefs? Samuel Maharero, who once called thousands of head of cattle his own, is now harried like a wild beast and driven over the border into English territory. He has become as poor as the poorest field Herero and possesses nothing. It is the same with the other chiefs, the majority of whom have lost their lives, and the Herero people too have been annihilated - part of them dying of hunger and thirst in the desert, part killed by German soldiers, part murdered by the Ovambos. The Hottentots will suffer the same fate if they do not surrender and give up their weapons. You should come with a white piece of cloth on a stick together with your whole village and nothing will happen to you. You will get work and receive food until the war ends at which time the Great German Kaiser will regulate anew the conditions in this land. He who believes that mercy will not be extended to him should leave the land for as long as he lives on German soil he will be shot - this policy will go on until all such Hottentots have been killed. For the following men, living or dead, I set the following price: Hendrik Witbooi - 5 000 Marks; Skippers Stürmann, the "Witbooi prophet" [also called Shepperd Stuurman] - 3 000; Cornelius - 3 000; for the other guilty leaders - 1 000 each". But, the order to surrender made no impression on Hendrik Witbooi and his Nama allies.
In October 1904 Hendrik Witbooi attacked Kirris Ost but had to escape. Hendrik Witbooi, by then an octogenarian, was killed in action against the Germans on 29.05.1905 at Vaalgras/Koichas. He died 15 minutes after being shot on horseback. Petrus Jod (born 27.12.1863) was also killed. Hendrik Witbooi was succeeded by his son, Isaak Witbooi, also called "!Nanseb #Kharib !Nansemab" (1905-1928). Isaak moved to Naosanabis (present-day Leonardville which during the South African era was renamed after the Dutch Reformed Church Minister Leonard). Jakob Marengo (Bondelswarts, Ovaherero and other communities), Cornelius Frederiks (Bethany Nama) and Simon Koper (Fransman Nama) continued the fight against German colonialism.
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks (last photo of Hendrik Witbooi)
But, at the end the different Nama communities had to succumb to the superiority of the German arms. Many Nama gave them honourably up, but those who gave themselves up to the Germans met a similar fate to the surviving Ovaherero. All of them were taken prisoner and placed in concentration camps. Irrespective of promises by various German Schutztruppe officers (Von Estorff, for instance) given to Nama communities to elicit their surrender, the Nama were deported to concentration camps and forced labour. These concentration camps (The concept of "concentration camps" was borrowed from South Africa , where only a few years ago the British had been responsible for thousand of deaths, using concentration camps in the Boer War, 1899-1902: the establishment of "concentration camps" in German SWA was ordered by a letter of the German Chancellor, Bernhard Fürst von Bülow, dated 11.12.1904) were located mainly in the two port towns of Swakopmund and Lüderitz in a rather cold and moist climate. Unaccustomed to these conditions, underfed, ill clothed and poorly accommodated, thousands of prisoners-of-war, including women and children, died from neglect and forced labour. Groups of of Nama were transported, even after the War had officially been declared at an end on 31.03.1907, to other German colonies in Africa, to Togo and Cameroon. Of these groups of deportees, many died before they were repatriated shortly before the outbreak of World War One. Of more than 20 000 Nama who lived in southern Namibia before the outbreak of the German Nama War in 1903, fewer than 10 000 are estimated to have survived various forms of savage repression. But, it has to be mentioned that the source for these "numbers" is uncertain and has to be verified by further research. It has also to be stated that absolute evidence of the number of perished Nama does not exist, the numbers that are accepted will depend on what the various historians wish to prove by them. It is also not relevant whether the treatment of the Nama and other Namibian communities by the Germans represents "genocide" or not. According to the UN Convention of 1948, "genocide" is not defined along numerical lines but as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such".
One of the more appalling features of this mass destruction of human lives was the kind of open publicity exhibited by the Germans. Picture postcards were produced showing an complete disregard for human suffering. One postcard showed scenes of prisoners being hanged in the presence of women and children. These postcards mirrored a representation as though these occurrences were a quasi-normal feature in the lives of Africans to be subjected to inhuman treatment and the regular application of brute force. In other aspects as well, the first genocide of the 20th century can be considered one of the most publicised. There were popular novels, autobiographies and literature of colonial experiences, most of them extolled the exploits and sufferings of the German Schutztruppe soldiers, scarcely mentioning the suffering of the Namibian people. These publications included reports of killing not only Namibian fighters but old people, women and children as well. Together with the warnings about the "dangers of race-mixing" between German colonists and African women by the "geneticist" Eugen Fischer, such propaganda underpinned the inhuman treatment of Namibians in a foretaste of things to come for Jews, Blacks, Gypsies and other minority groups in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. To this was added a system of strict segregation by the German authorities in SWA. This system was marked by systematic discrimination, linked to harnessing the labour force of dispossessed Namibians in the sole interest of the new economic order centred on "white" settlement. In many ways this was the precursor to the later South African policy of "Apartheid", some four decades later.
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
In the case of the Namibian genocide 1904-1908,
consecutive German governments, regardless of their political affiliation, have
consistently evaded even a formal political apology for the first genocide of the 20th
century. This has been declined on the grounds that it might constitute an argument for
the descendants of the surviving Namibians to claim for damages. For instance, the German
Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhardt Schröder, during his first visit ever to the
African continent in January 2004, visited South Africa and overflew Namibia on his way
from South Africa to Ghana. He studiously avoided setting foot in the former German colony
and thereby simply evaded this German contribution to Namibia's painful colonial history.
This happened when his Social Democratic ancestor August Bebel made his famous speech
before the German Parliament on 17.03.1904, a hundred years ago: He condemned the
"suppression war" against the Ovaherero. He further demanded the termination of
the war and refused to budget for its continuation. He called the resistance of the
Ovaherero a "justified liberation war".
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: !Nanses (Katharina Witbooi)(-1897)
Mother: Lena Witbooi
Father: Moses Witbooi (1808-1888)
Children: Hendrik Witbooi (c.1858-)
Isaak Witbooi (1865-)
Jesaias Witbooi
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:256; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks); The Namibian (Kössler and Melber): 06.02.2004;
000624
Witbooi, Hendrik, (Jnr.)
[Witbooi, Klein-Hendrik - colloquial name]
* ca.1858 in Namibia
---
Hendrik Witbooi (Jnr.)(Klein-Hendrik) was a son of Hendrik Witbooi, and also his close
advisor and assistant. He was one of the four selected scholars carefully trained by
Rhenish Missionary Olpp for religious office. When he became teacher and preacher for the
Rhenish Mission at Rietmond - a position he held until 1884, and from 1894 onwards - he
was only 16. He acted as pastor for Hendrik Witbooi and his following at Hoornkrans and in
the Naukluft mountains. In spite of his unswerving service for his father, he seems to
have remained in fairly close touch with the Rhenish Mission, especially after 1894. He
joined his father in the war against the Germans in 1904. After the end of the war, he was
deported with a number of men, women and children to the German colony of Cameroon, where
most of them died. He was one of the few survivors who could return to Namibia after an
intervention in the German Reichstag. He was married to Frederika Witbooi.
---
Gender: m
Married to: Witbooi (Frederika)
Father: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
RAW DATA: BRMG 1894-1905: passim; Quellen 16:12.9.1874; Drechsler 1966:339; Olpp: Hendrik
von Gibeon; Lau 1995:252;
000278
Witbooi, Hendrik, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[!Nanseb |Gabemab - Nama name]
* 07.01.1934 in Gibeon
---
Hendrik Wirbooi (!Nanseb |Gabemab) was born on 07.01.1934 at Gibeon. He was the
great-grandson of the Witbooi Captain of the same name (1830-1905) and son of Markus
Witbooi. He is the seventh in the recorded genealogy of the |Khowesin. In September 1958, Hosea Kutako and Hendrik Samuel Witbooi and his nephew (son of Markus Witbooi),
Hendrik Witbooi, petitioned the United Nations. Consequently the Trusteeship Committee of
the UN rejected a plan by the UN Good Offices Committee to divide SWA and to incorporate
the southern portion of the territory into SA. Eric Louw, the representative of South
Africa objected and in the course of his objection attacked the credentials of the
petitioners and claimed that they are "unreliable witnesses". In
the early 1970s Hendrik joined SWAUNIO. In March 1973 Witbooi, supported
by the headmen of Berseba and Soromas, sent a telegram to the UN Secretary-General, asking
him to "urgently free us from South African colonial rule". He was
a teacher until 22.06.1977, working for the government school in Gibeon. He established a private school in Gibeon. He is also a Pastor of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC). At the end of 1976 SWAPO
took four Nama groups into a merger: the Nama of Gibeon, Vaalgras, Hoachanas and
Keetmanshoop, under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi. Witbooi became SWAPO Secretary for
Education and Culture in Namibia (until 1983). Hendrik
Witbooi was detained following South Africa’s raid on Cassinga in Angola on
04.05.1978 and the subsequent SWAPO attack on the Guruchab River Bridge on the highway
between Keetmanshoop and Grünau. While Witbooi was in detention, Captain Hendrik Samuel
Witbooi died on 29.07.1978. Consequently Hendrik Witbooi became the new Captain of the
|Khowesin. He became Acting SWAPO Vice-President in 1983 and SWAPO
Vice-President in 1984. He was repeatedly imprisoned during this time. He became Member of
the Constitutional Assembly 1989, Member of National Assembly 1990 and re-elected 1995 and
2000-. He served as Minister of Labour between 1990 and 1995. He became Deputy Prime
Minister in 1995. During the SWAPO Congress in December 1991 he was elected as SWAPO
Vice-President. He was re-elected as SWAPO Vice-President during the SWAPO Congress in
June 1997.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL EDU REL
Profession: Teacher Clergy Politician Traditional leader
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
002184
Witbooi, Hendrik Samuel, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[!Gae-nûb !nagamâb !Nansemab - Nama name]
* 01.06.1906
+ 29.07.1978 at Gibeon
---
Hendrik Samuel Witbooi (!Gae-nûb !nagamâb !Nansemab) was born on 01.06.1906 in Gibeon.
He was Hendrik Witbooi's grandson, and elected as successor in the captainship after his
uncle's, David Witbooi's, death on 09.07.1955. He was the sixth in the recorded genealogy
of the |Khowesin. Hosea Kutako (together with Nikanor Hoveka) was
the first to petition the United Nations in order to put Namibia under British trusteeship
in 1946. Another petitioner after 1955 was Hendrik Samuel Witbooi. In
September 1958, Hosea Kutako and Hendrik Samuel Witbooi and his
nephew (son of Markus Witbooi), Hendrik Witbooi, again petitioned the United Nations,
together with Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, Reverend Michael Scott and Reverend Markus Kooper.
Consequently the Trusteeship Committee of the UN rejected a plan by the UN Good Offices
Committee to divide SWA and to incorporate the southern portion of the territory into
South Africa. Eric Louw, the representative of South Africa, objected and in the course of
his objection attacked the credentials of the petitioners and claimed that they are
"unreliable witnesses". Hendrik Samuel Witbooi was a strong
adversary of the South African system of "Bantu Education" which denied
"black" learners an appropriate level of education. Consequently he established
the "African Methodist Episcopal Church Private School", a private church school
which used the English language as medium of learning. When the South African
administration introduced the "homeland policy" of the Odendaal Plan, he
vehemently and actively opposed the forced resettlement of the !Gami-#nun (Bondelswarts)
from the Warmbad area to Gibeon. During November 1967 he advised the !Gami-#nun in Warmbad
to reject any South African resettlement plans. He coined the famous quote: "I don't
want to possess a part of our country - I want to have the whole Namibia".
Consequently a criminal charge was laid against him by the SWA Administration. Shortly
before his death he joined the SWAPO party in 1977. He died on 29.07.1978 at Gibeon. His
successor was his nephew, Hendrik Witbooi (!Nanseb |Gabemab)(1978-).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Grandfather: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
RAW DATA: Budack 1972:256; NWG Newsletter (Vogt, A): April-June 2004; Chronology of
Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks: Monument before the Parliament
Building in Windhoek
000595
Witbooi, Isaak, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[!Nanseb #Kharib !Nansemab - Nama name]
[Witbooi, Izak - alternative spelling]
* 25.05.1865 at Gibeon
+ 16.10.1928 at Gibeon
---
Isaak Witbooi (!Nanseb #Kharib !Nansemab) was born on 25.05.1865 at Gibeon. He was Hendrik
Witbooi's son, and elected as successor in the captainship after Hendrik's death on
29.10.1905. He was the fourth in the recorded genealogy of the |Khowesin. After Hendrik
Witbooi's death on 29.10.1905, Isaak moved to Naosanabis
(present-day Leonardville which during the South African era was renamed after the Dutch
Reformed Church Minister Leonard). He continued to fight, but surrendered on
03.02.1906 at Nunub (Lieutenant Pabst). After the change of
colonial power from the Germans to the South Africans in 1915, the Witbooi Nama, together
with Hendrik Witbooi’s sons Jesaias and Isaak Witbooi, returned
to Gibeon. Isaak was installed by the South African authorities as "location
foreman". Protest by the "white" farmers led to the resettlement of the
Witbooi Nama at Rietmond and from 1919 at Witbooisvlei. Isaak stayed as the
leader of the |Khowesin until his death on 16.10.1928. His successor was David Witbooi
(|Hubuob !Nansemab)(1928-1955).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
Married to: <1>Hanas
<2>#Oamâ-!gae-|nûs
RAW DATA: Die Kämpfe der deutschen Truppen in Südwestafrika II:182; Drechsler
1966:208, 220, 222; Lau 1995:252; Budack 1972:256; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003
(Dierks);
000626
Witbooi, Isaak
* 01.07.1869 at Gibeon
---
Isaak Witbooi was born on 01.07.1869 at Gibeon. He must not to be confused with Hendrik
Witbooi's son Isaak.
---
Gender: m
Father: Isaak Witbooi (-1880)
RAW DATA: Lau 1995:252; ELCRN Kirchenbuch Gibeon;
000627
Witbooi, Izaak
*
+ .1880
---
Izaak Witbooi was Hendrik Witbooi's elder brother who fell in 1880.
---
Gender: m
Mother:
Father: Moses Witbooi
Children: Isaak Witbooi (1869-)
Namibia National Archives Database
000629
Witbooi, Jesaias
*
---
Jesaias Witbooi was apparently the third son of Hendrik Witbooi. He was baptised in his
adulthood, on 04.12.1881. His pre-baptismal name was Linnert.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Mother: Katharina Witbooi
Father: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
RAW DATA: Quellen 17:8.5.1885, 13.11.1885;
000623
Witbooi, Kido, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[Witbooi, Kiwido - alternative spelling]
[Witbooi, Cupido - alternative spelling]
[Witbooi, David Moses - baptismal name]
[#A-||êib !Gâmemab - Nama name]
[!A-||îb !Gâmemab - alternative spelling]
* 1780 at Pella (?) in the Cape Colony in South Africa
+ 31.12.1875 at Gibeon
---
Kido Witbooi (#A-||êib !Gâmemab) was born in 1780 at Pella (?) in Little
Namaqualand in the Cape Colony in South Africa. Before this the Witbooi community lived in
the surroundings of Cape Town. In Pella they had their first missionary, missionary
Bartlett from the London Missionary Society who took over the Pella station in 1816.
During 1825 or 1826 Bartlett was transferred to London Missionary Society Missionary
Campbell who resided in Griqualand, 50 km east of Griquastad. As a young man, Kido Witbooi
became the first established leader of the |Khowesin (Witboois) in 1805, when they lived
around Pella. Around 1835 he and some followers left for Griqualand to search for a
permanent home but they didn't find a suitable homestead there. Captain Kido Witbooi was
eager to get his own communal land for the |Khowesin. He approached Jonker Afrikaner,
Captain of the Orlam Afrikaners, to get him some land. To this end he offered Jonker a
wagon full of ammunition. Jonker, who already settled at Windhoek at this time (end 1830s
and early 1840s), should then go to Great Namaqualand and search for land for the
|Khowesin. Soon afterwards Jonker sent 12 oxen and 4 heifers to Kido and the message:
"Come to Windhoek, because I found a place for you, the oxen which I sent know the
waters of Windhoek, they will therefore find their way home themselves". Kido Witbooi
and the |Khowesin trekked from Griqualand to the Oranje River area. There the Witbooi
community stayed for a long time, even without a missionary, but they kept God's word. Jan
Visser, the father of Paul Visser, conducted church services. Wesleyan Missionary
Edwards from Warmbad reported about a letter (14.08.1850) where Kido Witbooi asked
for a missionary. By the 1850s they were living in Namaland in the ||Hawoben
(Veldschoendrager) area. At that time, Hendrik Henricks (or !Nanib
gaib ||Arisemab) was the captain of the
||Hawoben. That was when Jonker Afrikaner sent a second time 12 oxen to Kido, asking to
come to Windhoek soon. But when !Nanib heard that Captain Kido Witbooi wanted to trek
through Great Namaqualand to get to Jonker, he sent a message to ||Oaseb
of the Kai||khaun (Red Nation of
!Hoachanas), who was then the paramount chief of Great Namaqualand, and told him:
"You are the paramount chief of Namaqualand, so please stop Captain Kido, don't let
him move, because it will not go well with us Nama chiefs, when these two intelligent
chiefs (Jonker and Kido) get together." This message went secretly to ||Oaseb, who
replied to !Nanib, telling him: " ... don't let him (Kido) trek on, don't let him
across the Hei-!arexab River". But, when the letter got into !Nanib's hand, there was
none among the ||Hawoben who could read. Finally the letter came into the hands of the
Witboois, and the secret plot against Kido came into the open. The Witbooi community still
lingered a while in the ||Hawoben area, when Jonker sent for a third time 12 oxen to Kido
and bade him to come hastily to Windhoek. That is when finally the trek started towards
Windhoek. Kido entrusted it to his son, Klein-Kido (Moses Witbooi), while he himself moved
to Little Namaqualand in the Cape Colony to get a wife. When the trek under Moses set out,
!Nanib moved for a while in front of the Witboois and came to Captain ||Oaseb. Meanwhile
the |Khowesin had arrived at the Hei-!arexab River. In May 1856 the Witbooi community
camped in Ganikois (near Tses on the Fish River) and Heichuichab. That is where Rhenish
Missionary Johann Georg Krönlein came form Berseba and preached to the |Khowesin for the
first time. From the Hei-!arexab River the Witboois moved to |Hei-|gaseb. There missionary
Krönlein preached to the Witboois for a second time. On the occasion of the consecration
of the Berseba church at Eastern 1857, the Witboois joined with three wagons full with
visitors.Then the trek moved on and went up the Lewer River to |Kabi-eis where Krönlein
preached a third time. In May 1862 Rhenish Missionary Heinrich Kleinschmidt found on his
travel to the conference of Berseba the Witbooi people living along the Lewer River. When
Kido Witbooi returned and joined the Witbooi community, Krönlein advised him at Berseba
to ask Kai||khaun Captain ||Oaseb for land for the |Khowesin. When Kido Witbooi came back
from Berseba, the Witboois moved to the Hudup area, where they met for the first time
Rhenish Missionary Jacob Knauer who indicated he would permanently stay with the Witboois
after they have found their permanent land. Thereupon Kido travelled to ||Oaseb and asked
for the area around Khaxa-tsûs. Captain ||Oaseb granted this including the places
|Huni-#axa-ams, #Gabes, ||Anis and !Gaesabes. Missionary Knauer, who had so far assisted
missionary Krönlein at Berseba, was appointed by the Rhenish Missionary Board to
establish a missionary station at Khaxa-tsûs. Concerning the name of the new station,
Knauer would have liked to keep the old name, but Kido Witbooi had made up his mind that
the place should be called "Gibeon" according to the Old testament, Joshua Ch.
10. Shortly before Eastern 1863, Kido sent his people to fetch missionary Knauer from
Berseba. He arrived there on 10.04.1863. But as not the whole Witbooi community agreed to
Kido's decision to settle at Gibeon, it was always only a fraction of the people to stay
there. Other, under the more pagan leadership of Moses Witbooi, lived at Huniachamis
(Rietmond), Gaibis (Kalkfontein) and ||Anis (Lidfontein). After Knauer had received the
ordination in July 1863 at a general Rhenish missionary conference in Gobabis, and had
been ceremoniously introduced into his office, a dangerous smallpox epidemic erupted at
the Gibeon station which raged terribly among the people. In July 1864, the Rhenish
missionaries Jacob Knauer and Franz Heinrich Vollmer were in the north and accompanied on
the 25.07.1864 the Kleinschmidts on their unlucky trek out of Rehoboth. This was already
during the height of the Namaland wars which were triggered by the Rhenish missionaries in
the 1850s and 1860s in order to avoid the formation of a rudimentary Namibian state
established by the Orlam Afrikaners and their Nama allies. The missionaries were made
responsible for the refusal of the Orlam leaders to assist Jan Jonker Afrikaner to help
them against the Ovaherero.
As from the end of the 1850s the Witboois were involved in the various Namaland
conflicts. The arrival of European miners intensified the various
conflicts between Jonker Afrikaner and other Namaland captains, such as ||Oaseb of the Kai||khaun and Willem Swartbooi
(!Huiseb #Haobemab) from Rehoboth. Jonker had !Nanib
gaib ||Arisemab of the ||Hawoben and Piet Koper !Gamab of the Fransman Nama or !Khara-khoen as allies. In
the end, the Kai||khaun-Swartbooi alliance became the
weaker party. Jonker was, however, not successful to win over Kido Witbooi. But the
dividing lines between Jonker and the other Nama groups were not clear cut. Jonker
attempts to induce his relatives in Blydeverwacht as well as the Bethany and Goliath Nama
from Berseba, to fight against the Swartboois and the ||Oaseb group were not successful. The communities of Berseba and Bethany were
strongly admonished by their Rhenish missionaries and were not actively involved but they
stopped European traders to proceed with ammunition deeper into the country. At the same
time ||Oaseb, apart from coveting his strong alliance
with the Swartboois, tried to motivate his old Nama associates, the Bondelswarts (!Gami-#nun) and even Jonker’s allies, the Goliath Nama, to move against Jonker. The
Bondelswarts, as before, largely remained uninvolved in the conflicts in Namaland. They
could afford to do so primarily because of their position as "border police"
which was a source of income and protection from the South African Cape Government. Jan
Boois or Jan Frederiks from Bethany fought firstly with ||Oaseb and the Swartboois and switched later to Jonker Afrikaner’s side. Piet
Koper !Gamab of the Fransman Nama and Hendrik Henricks of the ||Hawoben joined Jonker. On 09.01.1858 Kido Witbooi was one of the
signatories of the Peace Treaty of Hoachanas. On 03.12.1864 ||Oaseb,
Hendrik Henricks and #Aimab attacked the Witbooi Nama
in Gibeon, which was devastated. The ||Oaseb
coalition represented the anti-missionary movement. Kido Witbooi’s grandson, Hendrik
Witbooi (Moses Witbooi’s son), was wounded in the skirmish. On 22.07.1865 Gibeon
station was attacked for a second time. On 17.07.1866 Kido Witbooi was
defeated by Kai||khaun leader ||Oaseb in Gibeon. On 25.09.1866 the third attack against
the seriously afflicted station Gibeon took place, just when missionary Knauer was at a
special conference at Bethany. The missionaries Kreft, Schroeder Jnr. and Weber were after
the disaster of Gobabis (11.04.1865) at Berseba. Preses Krönlein was missing at this
critical time, as he was on holiday in Germany from late 1864 until May 1867. On the way
to Gibeon ||Oaseb attacked Goamus. But the hostilities continued. ||Oasib and his people
were encamped at the Tsaub River, near the Fish River, and he ordered those in !Hoachanas,
that they also should join. !Hoachanas was consequently depopulated. But since Rhenish
Missionary Franz Heinrich Vollmer and their few faithfuls of the Kai|khauan (Khauas
Nama)(the peaceful old #Gai-|nub (Amraal Lambert) had died on 13.02.1864 in the smallpox
epidemic), they joined the others when ||Oaseb on 04.10.1866 had sent oxwagons for the
Vollmers. The Vollmers now stayed in ||Oaseb's camp, which was quit dangerous, as the
Witboois and Berseba Nama were always close by. ||Oaseb had promised to bring the Vollmers
to Bethany. But they didn't get so far. In October 1866 Kido Witbooi managed to defeat
||Oaseb. On 21.01.1867 the battle of Hauchab took place. ||Oaseb fled and his entire camp
fell into the hand of Kido Witbooi. On 03.02.1867 missionary Vollmer died in
Sendlingsgrab. Kido Witbooi pursued the Kai||khaun and attacked them on 15.02.1867 at Umkus, not far from
Rehoboth. ||Oaseb was seriously defeated. Shortly after this ||Oaseb !Na-khomab died in
!Hoachanas.
Shortly after ||Oaseb's death, on 04.06.1867, Rhenish Missionary Krönlein returned
from Germany to Berseba. There he met with missionary Knauer from Gibeon and missionary
Weber who had fled from Gobabis and there he heard about the sorry state of mission work
in Great Namaqualand, especially at Gibeon. At this time the old Kido Witbooi (as
Krönlein put it: "the old man with the martial face"), stayed with his
community at the Hoab River, a tributary of the Hei-!arexab River. Krönlein was much
eager to negotiate a peace accord with the warring Nama communities. On 18.05.1867, on the
day of the marriage of Rhenish Missionary Johannes Olpp, Krönlein received an answer from
Kido Witbooi who wanted not to miss his teacher and promised to return to Gibeon. The
successor of ||Oaseb, #Goraxab ||Oasmab (Barnabas), also sued for peace. On
27.11.1867 missionary Knauer left Gibeon and the services of the Rhenish Missionary
Society. On 19.12.1867 a peace treaty was concluded between Kido Witbooi,
#Goraxab ||Oasmab (Barnabas), David Christian Frederiks and Paul Goliath (Orlam Peace of
1867). On 09.01.1868 Rhenish Missionary Olpp moved to Gibeon. He succeeded
to bring the scattered Witbooi congregation of Gibeon to rest. Kido was
baptised on 07.06.1868 as David Moses Witbooi. Again, in 1868, the tensions between David
Moses Witbooi and his Nama allies took a nasty turn, so that the missionaries saw
themselves forced to exert all their influence for a renewed reconciliation. To this end,
the missionaries Krönlein, Kreft, Schroeder and Olpp met on 18.12.1868. Since this date
the old David Moses Witbooi behaved "to the satisfaction of the Rhenish
missionaries".
On 23.09.1870 Kido Witbooi was part of the Peace Conference of Okahandja. The
European sources refer to him as a gifted and respected leader. He was married to |Gâbes
and to |U-khoms (Elisabeth Witbooi ?). At the date of his death on 31.12.1875, he
apparently still had dependent children by his last wife |U-khoms (Elisabeth). His
last-born child is recorded as Johanna (* January 1868). His son Moses Witbooi (|Gâbeb
!A-||îmab) succeeded him as Captain of the |Khowesin in 1875.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Father: !Gâmeb
Mother: !Â-||îs
Married to: <1>|Gâbes
<2>|U-khoms (Elisabeth Witbooi ?)
Children: Moses Witbooi (1808 (?) -1888)
Johanna Witbooi (1868-)
RAW DATA: DSAB I:881; Quellen 16:1.11.1873, 12.1.1876; Budack 1972:256; NWG Journal
16:1961/62:81-98; Jod 2004; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000277
Witbooi, Markus
* 23.07.1903 in Gibeon
---
Markus Witbooi was born on 23.07.1903 in Gibeon as son of Klein-Hendrik Witbooi. He was
one of the leaders of the separation from the Rhenish Missionary Society in 1946. He was a
Pastor of the AMEC, and leader of a cultural revival of Nama traditions. He was the father
of Hendrik Witbooi (!Nanseb |Gabemab), Captain of the |Khowesin since 1978.
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Schlosser 1958:82; Drechsler 1966:283;
000630
Witbooi, Moses, |Khowesin Captain (Witboois)
[Moses David Witbooi]
[|Gâbeb !A-||îmab - Nama name]
* .1808
+ 22.02.1888 at Gibeon
---
Moses Witbooi (|Gâbeb !A-||îmab) was born in 1808. He was the de facto Captain of the
|Khowesin after 1870, but officially so only after Kido's death on 31.12.1875. He was the
second in the recorded genealogy of the |Khowesin. Rhenish Missionary Olpp once described
him as "the only son" of Kido and an untraced mother. He seems to have had
several wives (the "first wife" !Nanses (Kaatje) died in the 1864 smallpox
epidemic). On 09.01.1876 Moses Witbooi wrote a letter to the third trek of "trek
boers" in Gibeon: "To the Trekboers: Dear Boers, I have
heard that your intentions are warlike and that you wish to take this country by war. If
this is true, then I say nothing, but if not true, then I say to you go back, for I do not
wish to have you in this country ...". In 1878 he tried to establish a united front due to their distrust of the British ambassador to
Namibia, William Coates Palgrave. In 1880 Moses moved to Seeis. On 23./24.12.1880 he was
defeated by the Ovaherero in the Battle of Otjosazu. He escaped to Gibeon. On
22./23.11.1881 Moses was again defeated by the Ovaherero in the Battle of Osona. He again
escaped to Gibeon. His time of official Witbooi leadership lasted only nine
years. When it had become clear that Moses could do nothing to hinder the permanent exodus
of the majority of the Witbooi elite from Gibeon under his son Hendrik in 1884, he sold so
much land to Boer immigrants that the missionaries referred to the "Boer Republic of
Gibeon", and he was heavily criticised by his colleagues in Berseba and Bethany. In
1885 Moses Witbooi moved to Warmbad to avoid being forced into a
"protection treaty" by the Germans. On 05.12.1885 Göring again tried to force Moses Witbooi into a "protection treaty",
but, again, to no avail. Witbooi Council members who received the Germans were severely
punished by Moses Witbooi after his return to Gibeon. Rhenish missionary Heinrich
Friedrich Gottlieb Rust was consequently restricted in the usage of the Gibeon church. In
1887/88 his long-time rival Paul Visser rose against him. Hendrik, defending his father's
(and own) chieftaincy, could not then vanquish Visser. He and his commando left Gibeon in
mid-January 1888, and Moses was publicly executed by Visser a few weeks afterwards
(22.02.1888). His son Hendrik Witbooi (!Nanseb gaib |Gâbemab)(1888-1905) succeeded him.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Married to: !Nanses (Kaatje Witbooi)(-1864)
Father: Kido Witbooi (1783-1875)
Children: Hendrik Witbooi (1835-1905)
Izaak Witbooi (-1880)
RAW DATA: Quellen 16:10.11.1869, 22.2.1870, 1.3.1871, 122.1.1876; Quellen 17:9.9.1886,
13.1.1887; BRMG 1887:352; Budack 1972:256; Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000722
Witbooi, Petrus
*
+ 10.12.1903 at the Great Karas Mountains
---
Petrus Witbooi was a nephew of Hendrik Witbooi who visited Germany at the occasion of the
colonial exhibition (Deutsche Kolonialausstellung) in Berlin 1896, and was granted an
audience with Kaiser Wilhelm II together with Friedrich Maharero. He fell in battle in the
Karas Mountains as part of the Witbooi contingent in the war against Jakob Marengo on 10
or 11.12.1903.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000631
Witbooi, Salomo
*
---
Salomo Witbooi was a highly-placed official under Hendrik Witbooi. His identity could not
be established beyond doubt, but he was probably Witbooi's younger brother.
---
Gender: m
Father: Moses Witbooi
RAW DATA: Quellen 17:13.11.1885;
000632
Witbooi, Salomo
*
---
Salomo Witbooi was a highly-placed official under Hendrik Witbooi. He probably was a son
of another Salomon Witbooi who was probably Hendrik's younger brother. Hendrik Witbooi
himself had a son by the name of Salomo, born in July 1863. Rhenish Missionary Rust claims
this son fell near Osona in October 1885, but according to the Gibeon church book the
fallen son's name was Johannes.
---
Gender: m
Father: Salomo Witbooi
RAW DATA: Quellen 17:13.11.1885;
001931
Wodehouse, Philip, Sir
*
---
Philip Wodehouse was the Governor of the Cape Colony in ~1867.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Namibia National Archives Database
001932
Woermann, Adolf
* in Germany
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:10, 218, 257-258, 323, 335, 365;
001263
Woermann, Erich
* 03.05.1904 at Hamburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1950
---
Erich Woermann was born on 03.05.1904 at Hamburg in Germany. He was educated in Germany.
He served in the German Air Force during World War Two. He came to Namibia in 1950. He was
a Director of Woermann & Brock Co. (Pty) Ltd. He was married to Franziska Woermann,
née Kleinherne in 1940.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Franziska Woermann, née Kleinherne, married 1940-
Father: Eduard Woermann
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001264
Woermann, Jens
* 20.06.1934 at Windhoek
---
Jens Woermann was born on 20.06.1934 at Windhoek. He was educated in Windhoek. He was a
Director of Brockmann & Kriess (Pty) Ltd.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Father: Ascan Woermann
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001265
Woermannn, Konrad
* 29.04.1931 at Hamburg, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 01.10.1960
---
Konrad Woermann was born on 29.04.1931 at Hamburg in Germany. He was educated at
Hermannsburg Mission School and the University of Cape Town. He came to Namibia on
01.10.1960. He was a Director of Woermann & Brock Co. (Pty) Ltd. He was mMarried to
Gabriele Woermann, née Reuter in 1960.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Gabriele Woermann, née Reuter, married 1960-
Father: Hans Woermann
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001933
Wohlgemuth, Heinrich, Dr.
* .1870
+ .1936
---
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED
RAW DATA: DSAB IV;
001266
Woker, Theodor Franz
[Tetje - nickname]
* 04.10.1889 at Hamburg-Altona, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1909
---
Theodor Franz Woker (Tetje) was born on 04.10.1889 at Hamburg-Altona in Germany as 8th and
youngest child of a wine merchant. He received his schooling in Altona and went to sea at
the age of 13. He came to Namibia in 1909. between 1916 and 1924 he was employed by the
Chamber of Commerce in Lüderitz. He was a businessman with wide-spread interests. He was
a Director of the South West Breweries Ltd. since 1924. He served as Chairperson of the
South West Breweries Ltd. since 1949. He was Chairperson of the Damara Wine Spirit Co.
Ltd., Director of Doornkop Sugar Industries Ltd., Gaedcke Property (Pty) Ltd., Goldfield
Industrial Ltd., Humphries Ltd., Maertins Woker (Pty) Ltd., Ohlthaver & List Trust Co.
(Pty) Ltd., Piehl (Pty) Ltd., Sentrale Beleggings en Ontwikkelings Korporasie van SWA
Bpk., Sturrock Woker (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Finance and Invest. Co. (SWA) (Pty) Ltd.,
Woker's Trust (Pty) Ltd., Managing Director of Woermann Lines (SWA) (Pty) Ltd. and
Chairperson of the Walvis Bay Harbour Advisory Board. He served as Mayor of Swakopmund. He
was married to Margaretha Woker, née Zappe in 1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Margaretha Woker, née Zappe, married 1914-
Father: Friedrich Heinrich Woker
Children: Wolfgang Woker
RAW DATA: WWSA 1929/30; 1959; SWA Annual 1954;
001267
Wolff, Eduard
* 18.02.1907 at Tsumeb
---
Eduard Wolff was born on 8.02.1907 at Tsumeb. He was educated in Windhoek and Germany. He
was director and manager of African Karakul Auctions (Pty) Ltd. He was married to
Liselotte Wolff, née Sauber in 1936.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Liselotte Wolff, née Sauber, married 1936-
Father: Wilhelm Wolff
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001498
Wolff von Gudenberg, Thilo Ernst Otto Moritz Eitel, Freiherr
* 11.12.1883 at Klein-Calden, Germany
+ 01.06.1915 at Wilhelmstal
First entry to Namibia: 1910
---
Thilo Ernst Otto Moritz Eitel Wollf von Gudenberg was born on 11.12.1883 at Klein-Calden
in Germany. He was a Schutztruppe officer. He came to Namibia in 1910. He was wounded in
World War One near Otjimahengu and died on 01.06.1915 at Wilhelmstal.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
Mother: Marie Wolff von Gudenberg, née Goeddaeus
Father: Alexander Wolff von Gudenberg
RAW DATA: Namibiana I,1:21-25;
001934
Wood, Joseph
* 17.02.1876 at Birmingham, England
---
Joseph Wood was born on 17.02.1876 at Birmingham in England. He was a minister of the
Wesleyan Methodist Church. He served as Mayor of Windhoek from 1927 to 1928. He was
married to Emma Wood, née Fairbank in 1910.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Functions: Mayor - Windhoek - 1927-1928
Married to: Emma Wood, née Fairbank, married 1910-
RAW DATA: WWSA 1929/30;
001268
Wood, Richard James
* 25.08.1920 at Oldham, England
First entry to Namibia: 02.1971
---
Richard James Wood was born on 25.08.1920 at Oldham in England. He was educated in
England. He was an Anglican priest. He came to South Africa in 1955. He was the Suffragan
Bishop of the Diocese of Damaraland since 1971. He was married to Elsa Magdalena Wood,
née de Beer in 1946 (she died in 1969) and to Cathleen Anne Wood, née Roark in 1972.
Mother: Irene Wood
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Clergy
Married to: <1>Elsa Magdalena Wood, née de Beer (-1969), married 1946-1969
<2>Cathleen Anne Wood, née Roark, married 1972-
Mother: Irene Wood
Father: Alexander Wood
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001269
Wulfhorst, August
* 12.03.1861 at Gütersloh, Germany
First entry to Namibia: 1890
---
August Wulfhorst was born on 12.03.1861 at Gütersloh in Germany. He was a missionary of
the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft and came to Namibia in 1890. He established a mission
station in Ondjiva (today Angola) in September 1891, together with Rhenish Missionary
Meisenholl, then at Omupanda in 1892. From 1919 to 1927, Wulfhorst was stationed in
Karibib. He was married to Thusnelda Wulfhorst, née Härlin in 1892.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Thusnelda Wulfhorst, née Härlin, married 1892-
RAW DATA: Otto-Reiner 1991;
001695
Wülfing, Walter
* 03.12.1878
---
Walter Wülfing was born on 03.12.1878. He was a Schutztruppe officer and writer.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL WRI
Profession: Military officer Writer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:206;
001270
Wunderlich, Georg
* in Germany
+ .?.1951 in USA
---
Georg Wunderlich was a German lawyer. He served as Judge in Belgium and Turkey during
World War One from 1914 to 1918. He was involved in a law case about diamond mining rights
in the southern Namib. He emigrated to the United States in 1936, became professor of law
at the University of Pennsylvania and legal advisor to the US Department of State. Before
his emigration, he handed the source materials about the diamond case to the South African
Embassy in Berlin, who got it transferred to South Africa and eventually to the National
Archives of Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Lawyer
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: A.??? "Wunderlich Collection" (Materials about the ... law case)
1). Library of Congress Manuscript Division (Personal papers 1897-1951, incl. diaries,
manuscripts and correspondence)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I;
001171
Xuma, Alfred Biteni
* in South Africa
+ 27.01.1962 in South Africa
---
Xuma was a South African African National Congress (ANC) leader. Xuma was
instrumental in getting the UN's attention on Namibia, opposing the incorporation of
Namibia into South Africa, by writing a telegram to the UN in January 1946. The telegram
had a wide echo in Namibia, South Africa and the world community, sparked similar moves by
other organisations, and succeeded in getting the UN General Assembly to reject South
Africa's incorporation plan on 14.12.1946. He was married to Amanda Mason Xuma in 1934.
Xuma died on 27.01.1962.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MED POL
Profession: Medical doctor Politician
Functions: President - African National Congress - 1941-1949
Married to: Amanda Mason Xuma (-1934)
Namibia National Archives Database
001935
Ya-Otto, John Gwaniipupu
* in Namibia
+ .199?
---
John Gwaniipupu Ya-Otto was trained as a teacher. He was an early SWAPO member and was
involved into the occurrences of the "Old Location Uprising" in Windhoek in
December 1959. In 1961 he became SWAPO's Acting Secretary General in Windhoek (until
1966). 1965 he published (together with Helmut Kangulohi Angula) SWAPO's first
publication, "Unity Wings". Ya Otto was arrested by the South Africans in 1966
and tried during the Pretoria Terrorism Trial in 1968. 1973 he was again arrested. Ya Otto
went into exile via Angola in 1974. He served as SWAPO's Secretary of Labour in 1976. He
chaired the internal SWAPO Commission in consequence of the 1976 "SWAPO Spy
Crisis". 1979 he moved from Zambia to Angola and published the SWAPO trade union
magazine "The Namibian Worker". 1989 he became Secretary General of the trade
union Nation Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW).
---
Gender: m
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000331
Yambeka
*
---
Yambeka was the daughter of Ondonga King Shikongo sha Kalulu.
---
Gender: f
Father: Shikomba sha Kalulu
Namibia National Archives Database
000633
Zaal, Jakob
*
---
Jakob Zaal was an officer under Hendrik Witbooi. The Zaal family is documented as being
members of the Gibeon congregation since at least 1874. A Jacobus Zaal was born to
Johannes and Sofia Zaal on 22.08.1872. According to Conradt, he was also chief of
provisions at Hoornkrans.
---
Gender: m
Namibia National Archives Database
000340
Zaby, Alfred, O.M.I.
* 12.11.1926 at Friedberg, Germany
+ 26.12.2002 at Döbra
First entry to Namibia: 1957
---
Alfred Zaby was born on 12.11.1926 at Friedberg in Germany. He came to Namibia in 1957 as
a Catholic Missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) order, worked as a teacher
in Döbra, then as a priest in Gobabis and Otjiwarongo, since 1972 in Okombahe, then at
Khorixas. Since 1981 he worked at Anamulenge. He wrote on ethnographical topics. Of
particular interest is his authoritative work on the ethnography and history of the
Riemvasmaak people, who were forcibly removed from Riemvasmaak (South Africa) to
Damaraland in 1973.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Catholic Missionary
RAW DATA: Namibiana I,2; Namibiana IV,1;
000043
Zachariah, Lazarus
*
---
Lazarus Zachariah was arrested in 1966 and detained without trial for 21 months, including
14 months' solitary imprisonment. He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria
Terrorism Trial, between September 1967 and February 1968. He was sentenced to 20 years'
imprisonment on Robben Island.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Collections/Papers:
1). NAN: PRI 3/16 (Prison file)
000332
Zahn, Gustav Adolf
* 15.04.1808 at Wasserthalleben, Schwarzburg, Germany
+ 08.03.1890 at Steinthal, Ceres, South Africa
---
Gustav Adolf Zahn was born on 15.04.1808 at Wasserthalleben, Schwarzburg in Germany. He
was one of the first missionaries of the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft to come to South
Africa. Zahn was appointed Superintendent of the Rhenish Mission congregations in the Cape
Colony in 1850, and held this position until his retirement in 1866. He was married to
Francina Hendrika Helena Vos from Tulbagh on 04.02.1835. They had four children.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: REL
Profession: Missionary
Married to: Francina Hendrika Helena Zahn, née Vos, married 1835-
Namibia National Archives Database
000333
Zahn, Johannes
* 1843 at Tulbagh, South Africa
---
Johannes Zahn was born in 1843 at Tulbagh in South Africa. He was the third child of
Gustav Adolf and Francina Hendrika Helena Zahn. After initially assisting his father at
Tulbagh, he became a teacher at the Rhenish Missionary Society's Boy's School at
Stellenbosch in 1881. In 1882, however, he left the RMS, joined the Dutch Reformed Church,
and became pastor in Cape Town. He was married to Martha Pilgram on 03.04.1878.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: EDU
Profession: Teacher
Married to: Martha Zahn, née Pilgram, married 1878
Namibia National Archives Database
001696
Zawada, Felix
* 02.10.1878
+ 06.08.1914
---
Felix Zawada was born on 02.10.1878. She was a Schutztruppe officer. He died on
06.08.1914.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL
Profession: Military officer
RAW DATA: Fischer 1935:221;
001938
Zeidler, Wolfgang
* in Germany
+ in Germany
---
Wolfgang Zeidler was a Judge of the German Constitutional Court
(Bundesverfassungsgericht). He was an active supporter of the South African attempts for
an "internal solution" in Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Jurist
RAW DATA: Informationsdienst Südliches Afrika 5/1985;
000854
Zelle, Erich
* at Berlin, Germany
+ .1969
First entry to Namibia: 1906
---
Erich Zelle studied geophysics in Germany, but broke off and emigrated to Namibia in 1906.
He had various odd jobs until in 1920 he was appointed government meteorologist until his
retirement in 1944. He was very active in the SWA Scientific Society, which he served as
librarian, secretary, and President (1939-1947).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: SCI
Functions: President - SWA Scientific Society - 1939-1947
Married to: Elisabeth Zelle, née Brose
Father: Friedrich Zelle
RAW DATA: Mitt.SWAWG 43,4-6; WWSA 1959;
002206
Zeraua, Christian Eerike, Ovaherero Chief
*
---
Ombara (traditional title) Christian Eerike Zeraua is the current Ovaherero Chief
at Omatjette (since 1997).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
RAW DATA: Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000334
Zeraua, Christian Wilhelm, Ovaherero Chief
* at Otjimbingwe
+ 29.11.1876 at Omaruru
---
Christian Wilhelm Zeraua was a famous Ovaherero leader at Otjimbingwe. Zeraua, who rose to
prominence in the 1850s as a leader of the Ovaherero, was a central figure in the process
by which the Ovaherero were armed - or armed themselves - with guns. He remained closely
associated with the European traders. Zeraua was the third son of Zemburuka and Zaapi, he
had at least four sons himself (Kambata, Zacharias, Elias and Cornelius) and several
daughters, one of them Albertine, who later married Manasse Tyiseseta. He and his lineage
are much praised in Ovaherero traditions. Although he had consistently refused to be
converted to Christianity, he requested Rhenish Missionary Viehe to baptise him with the
names Christian Wilhelm in 1876, close to his death. He was the first Omuherero to be
buried in a coffin, which is why the Ovaherero refer to that year as the "Year of the
Coffin" ("ojotjikesa"). Although the Ovaherero
leader Christian Wilhelm Zeraua was Maharero’s senior, he declined in 1863 the
leadership and Maharero became the supreme Ovaherero Chief. In 1867, he
moved to Omaruru owing to the drought. In September 1876 the
Ovaherero chiefs and William Coates Palgrave, Special Representative of the Cape Colony,
hold the Main Conference of Okahandja. The letter to Cape Governor Barkly was signed by
Maharero, Christian Wilhelm Zeraua from Omaruru, the Ovambanderu Chief, Salomo Aponda from
Otjikango and Wilhelm Maharero, oldest son of Maharero. As witnesses the letter is also
signed by missionaries Peter Heinrich Brincker, Carl Ludwig Hermann Hegner and Botolf
Bernhard Björklund, and traders Heinrich Kleinschmidt, Robert Lewis and J.J. Christie.
Christian Wilhelm Zeraua died in Omaruru on 29.11.1876. He was succeeded by Manasse
Tyiseseta (resp. Chief Tjaherani according to other sources).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: POL
Profession: Traditional leader
Children: Kambata
Zacharias
Elias
Cornelius
Albertine
RAW DATA: P.Reiner 1992:444; Lau 1989:318; Otto-Reiner 1991; v.Schumannn 1986; Chronology
of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
000604
Zeraua, Zacharias, Ovaherero Chief
*
+ 09.03.1915 at Otjimbingwe
---
Zacharias Zeraua was the son of Christian Wilhelm Zeraua (+ 1876), leader of the Ovaherero
of Otjimbingwe and surroundings. On 26.11.1894 Leutwein persuaded
Samuel Maharero and Zacharias Zeraua of Otjimbingwe to meet Manasse Tyiseseta at Omaruru
to seek agreement between the Ovaherero leaders. Leutwein’s demonstration of power
led to the downfall of Manasse’s independent position and to the establishment of a
German military garrison at Omaruru. In 1903 "White"
infringers of the law were increasingly favoured by the German law courts. The most
sensational case was the initial dismissal of a certain Dietrich after the murder of the
daughter-in-law of the Otjimbingwe Chief, Zacharias Zeraua. The Ovaherero unleashed a
storm of protest. The re-trial found Dietrich guilty and he was sentenced to three
years’ imprisonment. Zeraua took part in the German-Namibian War of
1904. On 23.01.1904 the Ovaherero of Otjimbingwe under Chief
Zacharias Zeraua started fighting. On 16.02. Lieutenant Gygas defeated the Otjimbingwe
Ovaherero under Zeraua in the battle of Lievenberg. In March Theodor Leutwein reported
that Samuel Maharero was positioned along the line of Otjosazu, Okatumba at the Swakop
River and Katjapia (with ±1 000 rifles); that Chief Michael Tyiseseta was moving from the
Etjo Mountains in an eastward direction (with ±500 rifles); that the Tjetjo community had
retreated from Kehoro at the Black Nossob River in the direction of the Onjati Mountains
(with ±1 000 rifles); and that more Ovaherero under the command of Zacharias Zeraua (with
±1 000 rifles) could be found in the area of Otjimbingwe at the Sney River, and at
Lievenberg and Oruware at the Swakop River. At the end of March Zeraua left the area of
Oruware and moved via Teufelsbach to the east. Thereafter he joined the Otjimbingwe and
Omaruru Ovaherero at Samuel Maharero's station at Ongandjira in the upper Swakop valley.
After the Waterberg Battle in August, the Ovaherero assembled at Okahandja North between
the Omatako omuramba and the Eiseb omuramba (September 1904). They fled
further via Otjinene, Epata, Osombo-Windimbe (Ozombo ja Windimba) and Erindi-Ombahe,
following the course of the Eiseb omuramba. Zacharias Zeraua from Otjimbingwe
reported later that the chiefs Samuel Maharero from Okahandja, Banjo from Otjombonde,
David and Salatiel Kambazembi from Waterberg, Ouandja from Otjikururume, Kayata from
Otjihaenena, Michael Tyiseseta from Omaruru, Katjahingi and Assa Riarua had assembled at
Osombo Onjatu at the Eiseb omuramba. During December 1904, in consequence of the
imperial order to pardon all Ovaherero who had put down their arms, Ludwig von Estorff,
who was at this stage stationed at Owinauanaua at the Eiseb omuramba, called upon
the Ovaherero to surrender and promised to spare their lives and resettle them in the
areas from which they originally came. But Von Trotha reacted to Von Estorff by saying
"You have nothing to promise." One of the leaders who trusted Von
Estorff’s promise was Chief Zacharias Zeraua from Otjimbingwe. In breach of Von
Estorff’s promise, Zeraua was not permitted to return to Otjimbingwe. Instead in
captivity Zeraua was immediately interrogated and charged with instigating the murder of
"white" settlers. Later in Court (22.05.1905) Zeraua stated under oath:
"Before the beginning of the war I did not hold meetings with the captains in
Okahandja, therefore I knew nothing of an impending war. I also did not receive a letter
from Samuel that he wanted to make war." Zacharias Zeraua died on
09.03.1915 at Otjimbingwe.
---
Gender: m
Father: Christian Wilhelm Zeraua (-1876)
RAW DATA: Lenssen 1994:240; Otto 1979:40; Drechsler 1966:154. 165, 350; JBRMG 1905:27;
Chronology of Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
001939
Ziegler, Lieutenant
* in Germany
---
Lieutenant Ziegler was a Schutztruppe officer and Distriktchef (where?).
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL ADM
RAW DATA: Drechsler 1966:123. 346;
001271
Zielske, Fritz
* 04.07.1917 at Warsaw, Poland
First entry to Namibia: 1951
---
Fritz Zielske was born on 04.07.1917 at Warsaw in Poland. He served in the German Army in
a parachute brigade between 1937 and 1945. He came to Namibia in 1951. He was a Building
contractor and director of F. Zielske (Pty) Ltd. He was married to Marga Zielske, née
Sonnenberg in 1948.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Marga Zielske, née Sonnenberg, married 1948-
Father: Otto Zielske
RAW DATA: WWSA 1974;
001272
Zimmer, Karl
* 29.06.1913 at Swakopmund
---
Karl Zimmer was born on 29.06.1913 at Swakopmund. He was educated in Windhoek. He was a
Businessman, director of Eduard Zimmer (Pty) Ltd. and Zimmer Investment (Pty) Ltd. He was
appointed as a member of the SWA Tourism Board. He was married to Agnes Zimmer, née
Bokelmann (-1969) in 1938.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: BUS
Profession: Businessman
Married to: Agnes Zimmer, née Bokelmann (-1969), married 1938-
Father: Eduard Zimmer
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959; WWSA 1974;
001273
Zimmermann, Alfred, Dr.
[Charpentier - pseudonym]
* 08.05.1859 at Frankenstein (Schlesien), Germany (now Poland)
+ .1925
---
Alfred Zimmermann (Charpentier) was born on 08.05.1859 at Frankenstein (Schlesien) in
Germany (now Poland). He studied history and administration. He worked from 1883 to 1900
for the German Foreign Office, since 1893 in the Colonial Department. Between 1901 and
1904 he was a Colonial Councillor of the German Embassy in London. He retired in 1904,
lived in Berlin and wrote extensively about colonial history and politics, some of it
under the pseudonym Charpentier. He never visited Namibia.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: ADM WRI
Collections/Papers:
1). Bundesarchiv Berlin (?? (1937 Reichsarchiv Potsdam; 1945 to Russia; 1960 returned to
DZA Potsdam))
2). Staatsbibliothek Preuss. Kulturbesitz Berlin (Reisebilder)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I; Dt.Koloniallexikon;
001274
Zorn, Philipp, Prof.
* .1850 in Germany
+ .1928
---
Philipp Zorn was a professor of state and international law at the University ofBonn. He
was a Representative of Germany at the Hague peace conferences. He published i.a. about
colonial law.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: LAW
Profession: Jurist
Collections/Papers:
1 (Correspondence destroyed by himself)
2). Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Memoirs; diaries 1916-1918; reports from the Hague conferences;
some correspondence)
RAW DATA: Mommsen 1,I;
001275
Zschokke, Markus, Dr.
* 18.06.1893 at Basel, Switzerland
First entry to Namibia: 03.1927
---
Markus Zschokke was born on 18.06.1893 at Basel in Switzerland. He was educated at
the Humanistisches Gymnasium Basel, studied veterinary medicine at the Universities Basel
and Zürich, with a doctorate at Zürich in 1919. He was a research officer at
Onderstepoort, South Africa in 1920. He was a farmer in South Africa from 1922 to 1927. He
served as State Veterinarian in Namibia between 1927 and 1953. He was active in the SWA
Scientific Society. After retirement, he lived in Grootfontein. He was married to
Hildegard Zschokke, née Boehning.
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: VET
Profession: Veterinarian
Functions: State Veterinarian - 1927-1953
Married to: Hildegard Zschokke, née Boehning
RAW DATA: WWSA 1959;
001940
Zürn, Lieutenant
* in Germany
---
Lieutenant Zürn was a Schutztruppe officer. He was the Distriktschef in Okahandja in the
decisive year 1904 (from 1901). On 31.07.1902 Zürn relieved the
rising pressure by German traders on Samuel Maharero to pay his debts by declaring that
"while Samuel himself still has unpaid debts, he could not accept responsibility for
the debts of others". In December 1903 the first "native reserve" for the
Ovaherero was created at Otjimbingwe. Further reserves were envisaged for Okahandja,
Waterberg and Gobabis. Okahandja District Chief Zürn’s undiplomatic negotiation
style for the establishment of the envisaged Okahandja reserve border was one of the
reasons for the outbreak of the Ovaherero-German War of January 1904. In the case of the
delimitation of the Waterberg reserve border, Zürn even forged the signatures of the
Ovaherero leaders. This was another cause for the outbreak of the war. At the end of
December 1903 Samuel Maharero allegedly took the decision to fight the Germans. There is,
however, evidence that the Ovaherero had no intentions to wage a war against the Germans.
The war was rather inflamed by the provocative approach of the German settlers and the
aggressive attitude of Zürn. The war took place due to loss of control and ownership of
traditional land (German native reserve policy), usury by traders, increasing debts, cases
of rape, the sale of alcohol, the increasing ill-treatment of Ovaherero and threats to
Samuel Maharero’s life (by Okahandja District Chief Zürn. Missionary Wandres
reported Gustav Duft saying: "If Zürn had not been in Okahandja, then the issue
would not have developed in the manner that it did"). Zürn was later threatened with
a German court martial because he was held responsible for the outbreak of the war. On
06.03.1904 Samuel Maharero wrote a letter to Theodor Leutwein (letter from Otjosonjati):
"And finally at dawn [11.01.1904] he [Zürn] added soldiers to the fort [Okahandja]
... and called me, but if I had come they would have shot me. Because I realised this I
fled. Then Leutnant Zürn sent people of the gun on my path to follow me and shoot me.
This incensed me and consequently I killed the whites [Mr. and Mrs. Dickmann as well as
settler Kuntze] which had damaged us, because my death was ordered. This I heard from a
white man present here named M. von Michaelis. This is how the war began. It was initiated
by the traders and Zürn. I indicate how the war started, it is not mine. Question the
traders and Leutnant Zürn as to their war, when they have told you then we can talk about
it. The present war is that of Zürn [Otjiherero: Nambano ovita ovia Zürn].
---
Gender: m
Field of activity: MIL ADM
RAW DATA: Hubatsch; Gewald 1996: passim; Drechsler 1966:145, 147, 348; Chronology of
Namibian History, 2003 (Dierks);
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