Stephanus Jacobus du Toit

Stephanus Jacobus du Toit (; 9 October 1847 – 29 May 1911) was a South African nationalist, theologian, journalist, and translator. He promoted the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism, launched the first Afrikaans-language newspaper Die Afrikaanse Patriot, and translated the Bible into Afrikaans. He was Superintendent of Education in the South African Republic from 1882 to 1889.

Early years He was born in 1847 near Paarl in the Cape Colony at Plaas Kleinbos at a farm that had been in the family's possession since their arrival in the Cape as Huguenot refugees in 1688. He was educated at Paarl Gimnasium and studied theology at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch, completing his studies in 1872 He became an ordained minister in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church, NGK) the same year. Theologically, his views were strongly influenced by Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch Neo-Calvinist thinker. This made many congregations reluctant to invite him to be their minister. In 1875, he became the minister of a new congregation based near the family farm – that of North Paarl – a post he held until 1881.

In the early 1870s, two Dutch schoolteachers, Arnoldus Pannevis and C.P. Hoogenhout, made a number of pleas in De Zuid-Afrikaan newspaper that, for the benefit of the Cape Coloured community and the lesser-educated Afrikaner community, the Bible should be translated into Afrikaans. In 1874, Pannevis addressed his concerns to the British and Foreign Bible Society, while Du Toit's articles in De Zuid-Afrikaan supported Pannevis and Hoogenhout.

On 14 August 1875, Hoogenhout, Du Toit, and others established the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners, GRA) with the objective of promoting the Afrikaans language, nation, and country. Initially, this was to be achieved by publishing a monthly journal and, as soon as possible, a dictionary and grammatical rules guideline (spraakkuns). Du Toit was elected president of the association and within a year had compiled a set of grammatical rules. Although Du Toit could not openly control Die Afrikaanse Patriot without the consent of his church council, he was the driving force behind the paper, while his brother D.F. du Toit (known as Oom Lokomotief) was officially the paper's editor.

Later years alt=Stephanus Jacobus du Toit as one of the delegates to the London Convention in 1883–84. Stephanus Jacobus du Toit as one of the delegates to the London Convention in 1883–84. In 1882, after the Transvaal (now the South African Republic) regained its independence, its president, Paul Kruger, invited Du Toit to become Superintendent of Education, a post that he held until 1889. After his resignation, he returned to the Cape Colony and publicly took over the post of editor of Die Afrikaanse Patriot,

Du Toit died on 25 May 1911 as a result of injuries he sustained when the cart in which he was travelling to Calvinia to visit one of his congregations overturned in August the previous year. though this honour has also be given to Pannevis, to Hoogenhout or to all three. 1889 – Die Bybel in Afrikaans [The Bible in Afrikaans] (A brochure with a translation of the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis). 1893 – Genesis (translation of the Book of Genesis) 1907 – Die Psalms (translation of the Psalms)