Chris Lombard

Chris Johannes Lombard was born on 21 January 1929 at Heidelberg in the Cape. He received his schooling here at Heidelberg High School, where the famous actor Jannie Gildenhuys is one of his schoolmates. He continued his studies at the University of Stellenbosch and obtained a BA degree with Afrikaans-Dutch and German as main subjects, completed a three-year course in Speech and Drama and obtained the Secondary Education Diploma. Through part-time study, he later obtained at the same university the BA Honors degree in Afrikaans-Dutch and in 1974 the MA degree in Drama, the latter with a dissertation on " An investigation into the youth scene in relation to the contemporary adolescent ". He began teaching in 1952 at the St. Martini School in Cape Town and then did journalistic work for a while at Die Transvaler in Johannesburg. During this time and also later in Bloemfontein, he is actively involved in the amateur scene, where he himself acts and directs several performances. After this he became involved in tertiary education and from 1955 to 1958 was a lecturer in Speech and Drama at the Bloemfontein College of Education. In 1959 and 1960 he undertook an informal study trip throughout Europe . During this time, among other things, he teaches in England and presents programs about Afrikaans poetry in lecture form in Belgium and for Dutch radio. He also works as a radio announcer for World Broadcasting in Hilversum in the Netherlands and sends regular contributions to the arts page of Die Burger about theater life in Europe. In London he is friends with the actors Jannie Gildenhuys and Cobus Rossouw who are also there at this time and they attend several plays together. He also lived in Spain for a while . On his return to South Africa in 1961 he became lecturer and later senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cape Town, a position he held until 1980. While he is at the University of Cape Town, he again undertakes several study trips to Europe and investigates, among other things, language and drama education in England, Germany, Denmark and France. He also studied Italian and the teaching of foreign languages ​​at the University of Perugia for several months. As an actor he was once involved in a professional performance by the Cape Council for the Performing Arts (KRUIK)and also acts in one television sequel. Furthermore, he presents a lot of educational theater for schools with the students and also conducts refresher courses in language and drama for working teachers. In 1983 he became head of the Department of Speech and Drama at the Windhoek College of Education in Namibia and held this position until his retirement in 1991. The entire transition to independence in Namibia took place during this period and he was privileged to experience it first-hand and to get such a taste of what awaits South Africa. After his retirement, he settled back in Heidelberg and lives in the same house in which he grew up. He died on Friday 10 August 2012 after a short illness in the hospital at George .

Writing 

Already early in his life he writes verses and diary entries for himself and while he is a student some of his poems appear in the student magazine. However, he only started writing seriously in the last months of his stay in Windhoek. It is especially the transition to a democratic order in this country and the accompanying political excitement that stimulates it. His verses particularly explore the fate of the single and solo traveler, especially from the gay perspective, with particular reference to the things that pass away. References to shipping and the sea appear several times, as well as the treatment of socio-political issues. He also shows a strong sense and flair for the dramatic. In his relatively late debut collection [1] " Tussen die malgasse op die kaai ", he writes finely finished, tight verses that impress with their ingenious conclusion. Several poems deal with the transition between the old and new era in the history of Namibia, characterized by nostalgia for the past and uncertainty about what lies ahead. The European culture is seen as debased and with it the whites become a stranger and displaced. Several poems have travel as a theme. This volume was nominated for the Report Prize in 1991 and was shortlisted for the CNA Debut Prize in 1992. His fine craftsmanship is also present in the follow-up collections " Millennium " and " Driemaster ". [2] " Millennium " [3] (referring to the thousand-year reign of peace or a period of one thousand years) [4] determines itself largely on the political change in South Africa, [5] with accompanying concern about the world, [ 6] valuables and confidential that may be lost. [7] There are also several verses with homesickness about youthful beauty lost and verses looking back on a bygone youth. On the one hand, the future is assessed pessimistically and negatively (compare the poems " 1993 " and " The hope of builders "), but this tone is balanced with the " Intermezzo " section of the collection. This section takes place mostly in the Mediterranean area of ​​France, Spain and Italy and has a lighter touch. In a poem like " Greek journey " he finds himself more related to the European people than to those in Africa. The inherent loneliness of man is emphasized in the closing section and connects with the underlying melancholy of the volume. " Little beach nocturnes for nostalgia " are nostalgic childhood memories, while in " Alexander and Hephaestion " the Greek ruler finds rest with the lover after a failed marriage and multiple battles. [8]" Driemaster "'s title refers to the three sections of the volume. [9] The first section contains poems in which struggle against the attacks of life is depicted. [10] The second section depicts the longing and love of people, while the third section is more personal in nature with grief over the past and the loss of loved ones. However, the title can also refer to the past and present and the connection between them. Some of his poems are included in the collections " Groot verseboek ", " The Afrikaans poetry in a thousand and one poems ", " The thighs draw the thighs " and " New resistance ". He also publishes a collection of short stories, [11] " From an old village house ", in which he documents memories in a philosophical way in about twelve stories, each time offering a feast or food as a bonding agent. [12] The stories can also be typified as travel stories, as they center around visits to or from the narrator, from which also flow numerous amusing stories from family members and townspeople. [13] This book is inspired by his return to his home in Heidelberg. Some of his shorter work is included in collections, including " Borde borde boerdevol " edited by Hennie Auca