John van Melle

{{short description|Dutch-born South African writer (1887-1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use South African English|date=September 2012}} {{Infobox writer | image = Johannes van Melle.jpg | image_size = |birth_name=Johannes van Melle |birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1887|2|11}} |birth_place= Goes |death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1953|11|8|1887|2|11}} }}

'''Jan van Melle''' (11 February 1887 – 8 November 1953) was the pen name of a Dutch-born South African writer. His real name was Johannes van Melle.

Van Melle was born in Goes. He arrived in South Africa in 1906, and after a short sojourn in the Netherlands East Indies, settled in South Africa permanently in 1913. He worked as a teacher in many rural schools and soon started to publish in both Dutch and the newly emerging Afrikaans language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DBNL |title=J. van Melle, Kritisch lexicon van de moderne Nederlandstalige literatuur, Sander Bax, Hugo Brems, Tom van Deel, Ad Zuiderent |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/zuid004krit01_01/kll00379.php |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=DBNL |language=nl}}</ref>

Van Melle's best known work is the novel ''Bart Nel'', a classic of Afrikaans literature. It tells the tale of a farmer whose indomitable spirit allows him to survive the destruction and loss of his farm in wartime and being abandoned by his wife and family.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Melle, John}} Category:1887 births Category:1953 deaths Category:Dutch emigrants to South Africa Melle, John Van Category:South African educators Category:South African male novelists Category:20th-century South African novelists Category:20th-century South African male writers