Olive Schreiner

Woman and Labour (Dodo Press) Olive Schreiner

Olive (Emilia Albertina) Schreiner, Mrs. Cronwright (also wrote as: Ralph Iron) (1855-1920) was a South African author, pacifist and political activist. In 1867 she moved to Cradock with her older brother. When her brother left Cradock, Olive chose to become a governess. She accepted posts as a governess at a number of farms, most notably the Fouchés who provided inspiration for certain aspects of The Story of an African Farm (1883), published under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, as well as a small collection of stories and allegories called Dream Life and Real Life: A Little African Story (1893). However, Olive's ambitions did not lie in writing. By 1880, she applied to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh to be trained as a nurse, but her ill-health prevented her from completing the training. She returned home in 1889, where she felt extremely alienated from the people around her. In an attempt to reconnect with her surroundings, she became increasingly involved in local politics and produced a series of articles published posthumously as Thoughts on South Africa (1923). Her other works include: Dreams (1891) and Woman and Labour (1911).