Chris Barnard, South African author, Died at 76

Christian Johan Barnard is also known as Chris Barnard was born in Mataffin in the Nelspruit district of South Africa on July 15, 1939 and died on December 28, 2015.

He was a South African author and movie scriptwriter.

Chris was known for writing Afrikaans novels, novellas, columns, youth novels, short stories, plays, radio dramas, film scripts and television dramas.

He attended the Hoƫrskool Nelspruit in 1957.

Barnard majored in Afrikaans-Nederlands and History of Art at the University of Pretoria.

Himself and several other authors were notable figures in the Afrikaans literary movement known as Die Sestigers (“The Sixty-ers”),in the 1960s.

His work demonstrates Afrikaans as a language to speak against the apartheid government, and also to bring into Afrikaans literature the influence of contemporary English and French trends.

In 1962 he married Anette, and together they produced three sons; Johan, Stephan and Tian.

He divorced in 1978, he married his second wife, Katinka Heyns.

He had one child outside his marriage.

His second novel, ‘Mahala’, was considered an Afrikaans classic.

Chris Barnard passed away at 76 yrs old due to a heart attack.