MILLIN, Sarah Gertrude. Hon. D. Litt. (Rand). Widow of the
late Mr. Justice Philip Millin. Leading South African writer, whose work has
been acclaimed throughout the world. Born in Lithuania in 1890, she came to
South Africa at the age of five months with her parents, Isaiah and Olga
Liebson, who settled first at Beaconsfield, and subsequently in the Barkly West
district. She was educated at the Kimberley Girls' High School and commenced
writing for various periodicals when she was sixteen. Her first novel,
"The Dark River," appeared in 1920 and was acclaimed by the eminent
literary critic, Katherine Mansfield, as marking a new note in South African
literature. Her latest novel, "Goodbye, Dear England" (1965), is
dedicated to the memory of her brother, Captain Stephen A. Liebson, M.C., who
was twice wounded at Delville Wood, and was killed in action on March 22nd,
1918, in the Michael Offensive of the Great War that forms the background of
the book. Her successive novels and non-fiction won her an ever-growing
reputation as South Africa's foremost writer. The Witwatersrand University
awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1952 in recognition of her work. Several
of her books are prescribed reading at Yale, Harvard, M.I.T. and other United
States. Universities, and doctoral theses on her work have been submitted to
the Universities of Vienna, Marseilles and Milan. She has always taken a keen
interest in Jewish life: Jewish themes weave into many of her books.
Publications: Novels: The Dark River" (1920). "Middle Class (1921).
"Adam's Rest" (1922). "The Jordans" (1923), "God's
Stepchildren" (1924), "Mary Glenn" (1925). "The Coming of
the Lord" (1928). An Artist in the Family" (1928). "The
Fiddler" (1929). "The Sons of Mrs. Aab (1931). "Three Men
Die" (1934). "What Hath at Man (1938). "The Herr
Witchdoctor" (1941). "King of the Bastards" (1950), "The
Burning Man" (1952). "Two Bucks Without Hair" (short stories)
(1957). The Wizard Bird (1962), "Goodbye, Dear England" (1965).
Biographies: "Rhodes" (1933). "General Smuts" (1936).
Autobiography: "The Night Is Long (1941). "The Measure Of My
Days" (1955). War Diaries: "World Blackout" (1944), "The
Reeling Earth" (1945), "The Pit of the Abyss" (1946). "The
Sound of the Trumpet" (1947). "Fire out of Heaven" (1947),
"The Seven Thunders" (1948). General: "The South Africans"
(1926 revised edition 1934), "The People of South Africa" (1951).
"Men on a Voyage" (essays) (1930). "South Africa" (in Commonwealth
series) (1941), Plays: "No Longer Mourn" (produced 1935).
"General Smuts" (12 episodes in the life of General Smuts, written
for the B.B.C.). A Rhodes film based on Mrs. Millin's biography was produced in
1936. Add.: 34, Pallinghurst Road, Westcliffe. Johannesburg.
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