Global InformationJohn Knox Bokwe information
John Knox Bokwe | |
|---|---|
 John Knox Bokwe in approx 1914 | |
| Born | 15 March 1855 Ntselamanzi, Lovedale, South Africa |
| Died | 22 February 1922 (aged 66) Ntselamanzi |
| Other names | Mdengentonga |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, minister, music composer |
John Knox Bokwe (15 March 1855 – 22 February 1922) was a South African journalist, Presbyterian minister and one of the most celebrated Xhosa hymn writers and musician. He is best known for his compositions Vuka Deborah, Plea for Africa, and Marriage Song.[1]
As a young boy, Bokwe ran errands and worked for Dr. James Stewart's family. It was also in their house that he learnt to play the organ and the piano. In the same year Dr. Stewart took him into the general office of the Lovedale Mission as messenger, and later as his secretary, a post he filled until he left Lovedale in 1897. Meanwhile, in 1869, he was admitted into the mission's college department, where he was to remain until 1872.[2]
As an established writer, he joined John Tengo Jabavu in producing the newspaper Imvo Zabantsundu ("African Opinion") in King Williams Town. He played a role in the foundation in 1916 of what is now the University of Fort Hare (originally the South African Native College) in South-Eastern Cape Province.[1]
- ^ a b Ntantal, Phillis (1995). "Bokwe, John Knox". In L. H. Ofosu-Appiah; Keith Irvin (eds.). The Encyclopaedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography. Vol. Three: South Africa- Botswana-Lesotho-Swaziland. Algonac, Michigan: Reference Publications. p. 48. ISBN 9780917256004.
- ^ Millard, J. A. (1999). Malihambe: Let the Word Spread. Unisa Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-86888-052-2. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.