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Olive Schreiner
Sign in to saveAlso known as Olive Emily Albertina Schreiner, Ralph Iron, Olive Emilie Albertina Schreiner, Olive (Emilie Albertina) Schreiner
South African author and pacifist (1855-1920)
OverviewAI-generated
Olive Schreiner was a South African writer, sociologist, and feminist born in the Cape Colony in 1855. She wrote in English and used the pseudonym Ralph Iron. Her notable works include *A few minutes in the confessional*, *The silver plume*, *The African Boer*, *Three Dreams in a desert*, and *Woman and labor*.
She died in Cape Town in 1920. Her archives are held at the Harry Ransom Center, and her works are included in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. She is described by sources such as the *Nordisk familjebok*, *Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary*, and *The Nuttall Encyclopædia*. She had a sibling named William Philip Schreiner.
Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Europeana Sparql. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Olive Schreiner is referenced by 336 other articles, and connects out to pacifism, William Philip Schreiner and Mahatma Gandhi.
It is catalogued under topics including 1855 births, 1920 deaths and 19th-century pseudonymous writers.
Its subject is documented across 30 Wikipedia language editions.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1855
- Died
- 1920
- Works
- 138
Top works
- Peter Halket van Mashonaland
- A few minutes in the confessional
- The silver plume
- The African Boer
- Three Dreams in a desert
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Native name
- Olive Emily Albertina Schreiner
- Born
- ( 1855-03-24 ) 24 March 1855, Wittebergen Reserve, Cape Colony (in present-day Lesotho )
- Died
- 11 December 1920 (1920-12-11) (aged 65), Wynberg , South Africa
- Occupation
- Novelist, suffragist, political activist
- Notable works
- The Story of an African Farm , Woman and Labour
- Relatives
- S. C. Cronwright-Schreiner [ af ] (Husband) Frederick Samuel Schreiner (brother) Theophilus Lyndall Schreiner (brother) William Schreiner (brother) Helen Schreiner (sister) Henrietta Stakesby Lewis (sister) Oliver Schreiner (nephew) Katie Stuart (niece)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Albertina
- Family name
- Schreiner
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- South Africa
- Place of birth
- Cape Colony
- Place of death
- Cape Town
- Occupation
- sociologist
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Image
- Olive Schreiner00.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- date of birth
- 1855-03-24
- date of death
- 1920-12-11
- pseudonym
- Ralph Iron
- Commons gallery
- Olive Schreiner
- Commons category
- Olive Schreiner
- has works in the collection
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- writing language
- English language
- archives at
- Harry Ransom Center
- Commons Creator page
- Olive Schreiner
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
4 objects attributed to Olive Schreiner, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deals boldly with such contemporary issues as agnosticism, existential independence, individualism, the professional aspirations of women, and the elemental nature of life on the colonial frontier.
Since the late 20th century, scholars have also credited Schreiner as an advocate for the Afrikaners, and other South African groups who were excluded from political power for decades, such as indigenous blacks, Jews, and Indians. Although she showed interest in socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism, and feminism amongst other topics, her views escaped restrictive categorisations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values such as moderation, friendship, and understanding amongst all peoples, and avoid the pitfalls of political radicalism, which she consciously eschewed. Called a lifelong freethinker, she also continued to adhere to the spirit of the Christian Bible and developed a secular version of the worldview of her missionary parents, with mystical elements.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Olive Schreiner” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.