Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal

Ernst Oswald Johannes Gotthard Gotthilf Westphal (Khalavha in Venda, South Africa, 1919 - Bredasdorp near Cape Town, South Africa, 27 November 1990) was a South African linguist and an expert in Bantu and Khoisan languages. From 1949 to 1962 he taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Biography

Ernst Westphal was born at Khalava in Venda, the son of German Lutheran missionary parents. His father was Gotthard Westphal and his grandfather, also Ernst Westphal, was with his wife Wilhelmine the teacher and mentor of Solomon Plaatje. Already as a child E.O.J. Westphal was fluent in German, English, and Afrikaans, like many South Africans. His first and native language, however, was Venda, and as a child he was initiated into the partly secret Venda rites for young men. translated from the Afrikaans book by Marie Philip and Adèle Naudé: Gregory. Kaapse pikkewyn, 1971.

Westphal had three sons: Robin Peter, (1945-2015), Richard Geoffrey, (1948-1996), and Jonathan Westphal, born 1951. Prof. Westphal's second wife Althea had originally taken his ashes from Africa to Zennor, Cornwall, England, to be buried at St Senara's Church, but in the event he was buried in Port Appin, Scotland, near Glencoe, Highland. His tombstone carries the words, "A True Son of Venda".

A Festschrift was posthumously published in his honour, African linguistic contributions: presented in honour of Ernst Westphal, edited by Derek F. Gowlett (Pretoria: Via Afrika, 1992).