Article
Marais, Eugène (1871–1936) By Terblanche, Etienne
Article
Eugène Marais played an astounding number of roles: he was poet, fictionalist, essayist, naturalist, radical experimenter, hypnotist, medical doctor, psychologist, equestrian, prospector, businessman, journalist, advocate, war agent, political arbiter, farmer, literary mentor, spellbinding teller of children’s stories, and more—all rolled into one dazzling, humorous, magnetic, dark, and anachronistic personality. He lived, learned, and worked in an equally astounding array of places, including Pretoria (where he was born), Boshoff, the Paarl, Johannesburg, London (where a chimpanzee stayed with him in his room), the Waterberg, Mozambique, Erasmus, Durban, and Heidelberg (South Africa).