Heinrich Egersdörfer
Encyclopedia
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany - 29 April 1915 St. Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), was a German-born artist, illustrator and cartoonist who settled in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Coming from a family of artistic talent (his brothers Andreas Egersdörfer (1866-1914) and Konrad Egersdörfer (1868-) were both accomplished artists and both died in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
), he was trained as a lithographer in Germany and worked for the Leipziger Illustrierten Zeitung. He took part in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870, and then worked in England, before emigrating to South Africa in 1879. In 1884, he and his partners founded The South African Illustrated News in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. His sketches and drawings, often in a light-hearted vein, are an invaluable record of life in the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
and were often used in local publications. The South African Illustrated News came to an end in 1885 and he left for Australia, to return ten years later. The economic situation had improved during his absence, and he travelled to Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, the Witwatersrand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
and Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. He started painting wildlife studies, which found a ready market and his work appeared in The Cape Argus
Cape Argus
Founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon, the Cape Argus is a daily newspaper published by Independent News & Media in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to simply as "The Argus"....
, The Owl and other periodicals. He depicted numerous incidents and scenes from the Anglo-Boer War, some of which were published in The South African Review Book of 50 Famous Cartoons - A Unique Souvenir of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1900. Between 1899 and 1901 he acted as local correspondent for The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
, many of his illustrations appearing in this weekly until 1908. In 1902 and 1903, he exhibited with the South African Society of Artists (SASA). Egersdörfer's original illustrations can be found in many South African art galleries and in the Africana Museum. His only known photograph appeared in The Cape Argus Weekly Edition supplement on "Famous South African Artists" on 26 December 1906. With the death in Cape Town of his wife, Mary Jane Creaney in 1901(?1903), and that of his son Heinrich (1896-1910), and beset by financial problems, he returned to Europe and London where he died in 1915. He was survived by his first son, Friedrich, born in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia on 13 June 1894, died 6 November 1970.