Peter Blum

Who was Peter Blum?

Peter Emil Julius Blum was a poet. He arrived in South Africa as a child. At this time, he was already able to speak several languages, among others German and Italian.

After studying literature at the University of Cape Town and at the University of Stellenbosch, he took up a position as a librarian in Cape Town and, later, in Kroonstad in the Free State. Blum married Henrietta Cecilia Smit, an art teacher, in 1955.

His success as a poet was first affirmed in 1956 when he won the Reina Prinsen Geerligs Prize for his volume Steenbok tot poolsee.

Blum was twice denied South African citizenship. Kannemeyer speculates that citizenship was denied because of Blum's vociferous opposition to the Nationalist government's Apartheid policies. Bitter about the fact that his adopted homeland had rejected him, Blum and his wife left South Africa and settled with his wife in the suburb of Hounslow in London.. He died in London on 5 December 1990, aged 65.