JRR Tolkien

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South African born JRR Tolkien in 1911

While famous writer John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien identified himself primarily as a British writer, South Africans are proud to note that the first three years of his life were spent on South African soil.

The writer, best-known for his fantasy novels, 'The Hobbit', 'The Lord of the Rings', and 'The Silmarillion', was born in Bloemfontein in South Africa's Free State Province in 1892.

His father worked in a bank in Bloemfontein, having been transferred to South Africa from the United Kingdom with a view to being promoted. As a boy, Tolkien was a favourite among his family’s employees. On one occasion, Isaak, who worked for his father, took Tolkien home to his kraal for a night to show the baby off to his family. Isaak went on to name his first son Isaak Mister Tolkien Victor.

When he was three, Tolkien travelled with his mother and brother to England, a lengthy sea voyage that was to be followed by a long stay with family. While in England, his father died of rheumatic fever in South Africa. This left the family without an income, so Tolkien's mother took him to live with her parents in Kings Heath, Birmingham before moving to the hamlet of Sarehole.

Tolkien himself claimed to have few memories of South Africa, except for a vivid encounter with a large spider - an experience he is said to have put to good use later on in his writing. His father, Arthur Tolkien is buried in the Bloemfontein cemetery and his grave is still identifiable. Tolkien’s literature is widely read and readily available in South Africa.