BIOGRAPHIES OF NAMIBIAN PERSONALITIESin alphabetical order

BIOGRAPHIES OF NAMIBIAN PERSONALITIES
in alphabetical order

KLAUS DIERKS
Copyright © 2003-2004 Dr. Klaus Dierks

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, focussing 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;

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 Weiss 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 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.

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.

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 Witbooi (!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);

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
Woermann, 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;

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;

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