{{Short description|South African writer (1924–1986)}} {{Use British English|date=April 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox writer | name = Bartho Smit | birth_name = Bartholomeus Jacobus Smit | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1924|07|15}} | birth_place = Klerkskraal, near Ventersdorp, South Africa | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1986|12|31|1924|07|25}} | death_place = Melville, Gauteng | occupation = author, dramatist | awards = Hertzog Prize<br />Perskor Prize<br />Encyclopædia Britannica Award | spouse = Kita Redelinghuys }}

'''Bartho Smit''' (15 July 1924 – 31 December 1986) was a South African writer, poet, dramatist and director. He was a member of the Sestigers, a group of influential Afrikaans writers of the 1960s. He wrote ''Moeder Hanna'' ("Mother Hanna") in 1959, which was an acclaimed drama about the Second Boer War. In 1962, he wrote the play {{lang|af|Putsonderwater}} ("Well Without Water"), but it could not be performed in South Africa because of its overly political message.<ref name="Wynne Gunner">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/8275/African-literature/57044/Literatures-in-European-and-European-derived-languages#ref1027987|title=Literatures in European and European-derived languages|last=Wynne Gunner|first=Elizabeth Ann|date=19 February 2015|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=16 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="Adema">{{cite news|url=https://sybrandusadema.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/putsonderwatermg2009.pdf|title=Putsonderwater: A Well Without People|last=Adema|first=Sybrandus|date=17 July 2009|work=Mail & Guardian|page=12|accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref>

==Biography== Bartholomeus Jacobus Smit was born on {{birth date|df=yes|1924|07|15}} in Klerkskraal, near Ventersdorp, South Africa. He matriculated in Standerton and graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1949 with a bachelor's degree and in 1951 obtained a Master of Arts degree from the same university. In 1949 he met actress Kita Redelinghuys and they married. From 1952 to 1957 they toured Paris, Munich and London as drama students under Jan Rabie. He also immersed himself in philosophy while in Europe.<ref name="Kannemeyer">{{cite web|url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kann003gesk02_01/kann003gesk02_01_0011.php |title=Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse literatuur 2|last=Kannemeyer|first=J. C.|language=Afrikaans|accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref>

His first publication was the story ''Outa Lukas, die natuurkind'', which was published on 27 March 1941. In the forties he published stories and poems in magazines such as ''The Sentinel'' and ''Huisgenoot''. In 1949 the publisher Unie-Boekhandel debuted his first book of poems, ''Mure: verse''.<ref name="Kannemeyer"/> He made his drama debut in 1955 with ''Moeder Hanna'', but really attained public acclaim in 1962 with his play ''Putsonderwater''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Van der Merwe|first=C. N.|title=Breaking Barriers: Stereotypes and the Changing of Values in Afrikaans Writing 1875–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdZ662BYhLIC&pg=PA47|pages=47–48|isbn=9051835906|year=1994|publisher=Rodopi }}</ref> In 1978 he received the Hertzog Prize for drama for his body of work. In 1979 he won the Perskor Prize for Literature for ''Die Keiser''. Also, in 1960, he received the Encyclopædia Britannica Award for the English translation of ''Die verminktes'' (The Maimed).<ref name="Kannemeyer"/> He died on {{death date|df=yes|1986|12|31}} from cancer.

==Publications== ===Poetry=== *''Mure: verse''. Unie-Boekhandel, 1949

===Plays=== *''Moeder Hanna''. Afrikaanse Persboekhandel, 1955 *''Don Juan onder die boere''. Human & Rousseau, 1960 *''Die verminktes''. Perskor, 1960 *''Putsonderwater: ’n toneelstuk in vier dele''. Afrikaanse Persboekhandel, 1962 *''Die man met die lyk om sy nek: ’n moord-komedie''. Afrikaanse Persboekhandel, 1967 *''Christine''. Tafelberg, 1971 *''Die man met die alibi''. Afrikaanse Persboekhandel, 1971 *''Bacchus in die Boland''. Perskor, 1974 *''Die keisier: variasies op ’n sprokie van Hans Andersen''. Perskor, 1977

===Sketches=== *''Losgoed''. Perskor, 1974

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|1273087}}

{{Sestigers}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Bartho}} Category:1924 births Category:1986 deaths Category:People from JB Marks Local Municipality Category:Afrikaner people Category:Afrikaans-language writers Category:Sestigers Category:20th-century South African poets Category:University of Pretoria alumni Category:Hertzog Prize winners for drama Category:Deaths from cancer in South Africa