Olive Schreiner
Political and social activist, writer.
24 March 1855 – 10 December 1920
Education
No formal education.
Aged 15 took up a position as a governess for her cousin. Later, aged 17, joined her older brother and sister at New Rush and taught children.
1881 Travelled to England and settled in London until 1886. On her arrival, she enrolled as a nurse aiming to pursue a career in medicine but had to withdraw due to ill health.
Frequented the British Museum Reading Room (ticket issued 1883) networking with fellow writers and activists there.
1883 African Farm, published under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, met with immediate success.
Joined the Men and Women’s Club contributing actively to discussions and the Fellowship of the New Life.
Post 1889 visited England on several different occasions.
1890 Dreams, a collection of allegories, published.
1893 Dream Life and Real Life published.
Her writing moved from novels to political treatises and polemical fiction advocating a more democratic free society. She spoke out strongly against British imperialism.
1896 The Political Situation published.
Active in women’s protest movement in the Cape.
1906 Letter on the Jew, a pamphlet.
1909 Closer Union.
1911 Women and Labour, a study of women’s identity and roles in the early 20th century.
1923 Stories, Dreams, and Allegories and Thoughts on South Africa.
1926 From Man to Man.
Issues
Father declared insolvent when she was 11 and she joined her older brother in Cradock. Her father died when she is 21.
Was extremely shy except with those she was in a close relationship with.
Suffered from asthma throughout her life. Gave up her chosen career in medicine because of ill health.
Was involved in several relationships that affected her physical and mental resilience.
Had a strained relationship with her husband mostly affected by her poor health and her seven miscarriages.
Initially had difficulty finding a publisher for African Farm and had to publish work under a pseudonym.
Connection to Bloomsbury
British Museum Reading Room and networking in the area eg with Eleanor Marx.
Female networks
Alice Greene, Amy Levy, Betty Molteno, Constance Lytton, E Nesbit, Eleanor Marx, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Frances Lord, Gladys Henrietta Schutze, Isabella Ormston Ford, Margaret Harkness.
Selected works in addition to above
1897 Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland a fictional attack on Rhodes.
1899 An English South African’s View of the Situation a pro-Boer anti-war tract.
1916 Labour Leader, pacifist propaganda.
1929 Undine published posthumously.
Further Reading