Jan Lion Cachet | |
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| Born | Jan Lion Cachet 29 November 1838 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | September 21, 1912 (aged 74) Potchefstroom, South Africa |
| Occupation | writer |
| Language | English, Afrikaans |
Jan Lion Cachet (29 November 1838, Amsterdam – 21 September 1912, Potchefstroom) was a minister and professor in the Reformed Church and an early Afrikaans writer and poet.[1] Cachet was born to Jewish-Portuguese parents as the younger brother of Frans Lion Cachet.[2] In 1849 the family converted to Christianity.[3] In 1861 Cachet emigrated to South Africa as a teacher. He qualified as a minister and later became a professor at the Theological School in Burgersdorp, of which Prof. Dirk Postma was the rector. In 1905 he moved with the theological school to Potchefstroom and a few years later he died.[4]
Dr. B. Spoelstra describes Cachet in the South African Biographical Dictionary as a serious, edifying and engaging preacher of the gospel; he was specially called by the state president, Pres. Paul Kruger, also a member of the Reformed Church, to lead a prayer meeting in Pretoria on 27 August 1899 with a view to the impending war. As a professor he was the genial and approachable one who, with his wide knowledge of Scripture, love of history and practical life skills, formed ministers for service to church and people, instead of theologians. He was proud to be a Jew, Dutchman and Afrikaner, a versatile and well-read person, a sharp and sympathetic observer with a critical sense, a quiet leader in the church, political, educational and cultural fields, even and controlled in temperament, sometimes inclined to gloominess, but tempered by wit and friendliness. In his dealings he was humble, dressed remarkably simply, a vocation-conscious churchman and people's man.
In February 1909, he received the Officer's Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. He is particularly remembered for his poem, "Di Afrikaans Taal", which appeared in Ons Klyntji in 1896, and later in his prose work Sewe duiwels en wad hulle dogen het.[5]
- ^ https://www.litnet.co.za/jan-lion-cachet-1838-1912/
- ^ K. ter Laan, Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid (1941)
- ^ http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&news_id=35711&cause_id=1270[permanent dead link] LITNET. Die Afrikaanse taal: ’n liefdesgeskiedenis Daniel Hugo
- ^ https://weet.co.za/taal/jan-lion-cachet/
- ^ HAT Taal-en-feitegids, Pearson, Desember 2013, ISBN 978-1-77578-243-8