Benedict Wallet Vilakazi | |
|---|---|
Bambatha kaMshin | |
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| Born | (1906-01-06)6 January 1906 |
| Died | 26 October 1947(1947-10-26) (aged 41) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Alma mater | University of South Africa University of Witwatersrand |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Poetry,linguistics |
| Institutions | University of Witwatersrand |
| Thesis | Oral and written literature in Nguni.[1] |
| Doctoral advisor | CM Doke |
Benedict Wallet Vilakazi (6 January 1906 – 26 October 1947) was aSouth Africannovelist,linguist, a descendant of theZulu royal family, and a radically innovativepoet who created a combination oftraditional andRomantic poetry in theZulu language. Vilakazi was also a professor at theUniversity of Witwatersrand, where he became the firstBlack South African to teach University classes toWhite South Africans. In 1946, Vilakazi also became the first Black South African to receive aPhD.[2]
Vilakazi Street along which the poet lived in the formerlysegregated township ofSoweto, is named after Benedict Vilakazi. Vilakazi Street is now very famous as the street where bothNelson Mandela and ArchbishopDesmond Tutu also once lived.
Benedict Vilakazi was born Bambatha kaMshini in 1906 at the Groutville Mission Station nearKwaDukuza,Natal (nowSouth Africa), the fifth child ofRoman Catholicconverts Mshini ka Makhwatha and Leah Hlongwane. His mother, Mrs Leah Hlongwane Vilakazi, was the daughter of Bangile, who was the sister of QueenNgqumbazi, mother to King [Cetshwayo], wife to King Mpande ka Senzangakhona]], and also the sister of the Right Reverend J Mdelwa Hlongwane ka Mnyaziwezulu, the son of ChiefMatiwane.
Vilakazi split his childhood between herding the family'scattle and the local mission school until the age of 10, at which point he transferred to the St. Francis College inMariannhill, a coeducationalRoman Catholicsecondary school founded by theMariannhillers' localTrappist monastery.[3] Here he was baptized with the name "Benedict Wallet," although at his mother's insistence he kept thesurname of Vilakazi. He obtained a teaching certificate in 1923 and taught at Mariannhill and later at aseminary inIxopo.
In 1933, Vilakazi released his first novelNje nempela[4] ("Really and Truly"), one of the first works ofZulufiction to treat modern subject matter. He followed it in 1935 with the novelNoma nini as well as a poetry collectionInkondlo kaZulu, the first publication of European-influenced Zulu poetry.
His poetry, heavily influenced by the verse of theEuropeanRomantics, introduced literary themes as well as bothrhyme andpoetic meters previously unknown in Zulu literature, while combining them with elements of theIzibongo tradition ofpraise poetry.
Earning aB.A. from theUniversity of South Africa in 1934, Vilakazi began work in theBantu studies department at theUniversity of Witwatersrand in 1936[5] underlinguistC. M. Doke, with whom he created a Zulu-English dictionary. Vilakazi's teaching position made him the first black South African to teachwhite South Africans at the university level.
Vilakazi's later novels continued to explore daily life in traditional Zulu culture, such asUDingiswayo kaJobe (1939) andNje nempela (1944), which is the story of apolygamous Zulu family.
His poetry became increasingly political in the course of his life, dramatizing the exploitation and discrimination not only against theZulu people, but also against otherblack South Africans as well.
Vilakazi is also noted for his scholarly work onoral tradition and theZulu andXhosa languages, which on 16 March 1946, earned him the first PhD to be awarded to a black South African.
A year after receiving his doctorate, Benedict Wallet Vilakazi died inJohannesburg ofmeningitis. Both his novels and poetry were well received in his own lifetime and remain so today.
Vilakazi Street inSoweto is where two Nobel Laureates,Nelson Mandela andDesmond Tutu, once lived and it was named in honour of Vilakazi, who was also a former resident.[6]Dr B.W. Vilakazi Secondary School in Zola 3, Soweto was named after the late Dr Vilakazi in order to commemorate his legacy.[7]
On 28 April 2016, theOrder of Ikhamanga - Gold (OIG) was conferred on Dr Benedict Wallet Vilakazi posthumously‚ for "his exceptional contribution to the field of literature in indigenous languages and the preservation of isiZulu culture".[8]
Aliterary translation by R.M. Mfeka and Peggy Rutherfoord of Benedict Vilakazi's poemUmamina was published in theanthologyAfrican Voices: An Anthology of Native African Writing.[9]
In his 1974 book about the history of theZulu royal family, historianBrian Roberts wrote, "the first Zulu King", meaningShaka Zulu, "must remain an enigma." Roberts, however, praised Benedict Vilakazi, the last lines of whoseZulu language poemUShaka KaSenzangakhona ("Shaka, Son of Senzangakhona"), contain, "perhaps the most fitting epitaph to Shaka":
