Breyten Breytenbach

Breyten Breytenbach
Breytenbach in 1995
Breytenbach in 1995
Born(1939-09-16)16 September 1939
Bonnievale, Cape Province, South Africa
Died24 November 2024(2024-11-24) (aged 85)
Paris, France
Occupation
  • Poet
  • painter
  • novelist
  • essayist
LanguageAfrikaans, English
Citizenship
  • South Africa
  • France (since 1982)
Alma materUniversity of Cape Town
Literary movementSestigers
Notable awards
SpouseYolande
RelativesJan Breytenbach (brother)
Cloete Breytenbach (brother)

Breyten Breytenbach (Afrikaans pronunciation: [brɛɪtən brɛɪtənbaχ]; 16 September 1939 – 24 November 2024) was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of the National Party–led South African Government. He is also known as a founding member of the Sestigers, a dissident literary movement, and was one of the most important living poets in Afrikaans literature.