Overview
Olive Schreiner
(1855—1920) author and social theorist
Quick Reference
(1855–1920),
born in Cape Colony, the daughter of a missionary. She came to England in 1881. Her best‐known novel was The Story of an African Farm (1883), published under the pseudonym ‘Ralph Iron’. Set in the vividly evoked landscape of her childhood, it recounts the lives of two orphaned cousins. This novel won her the friendship of Havelock Ellis. Her other novels, both with feminist themes, From Man to Man (1927) and Undine (1929), appeared posthumously, but during her lifetime she published various other works, including collections of allegories and stories, articles on South African politics, and Woman and Labour (1911). Schreiner has been acknowledged as a pioneer both in her treatment of women and in her fictional use of the African landscape.
Subjects: Literature
