The Jewish woman behind CJ Langenhoven’s legacy

They say that behind every great man is a great woman, and in the case of Sarah Goldblatt and the Afrikaans literary legend CJ [Cornelis Jacobus] Langenhoven, it couldn’t be more true. But who was Goldblatt, and why isn’t she known or celebrated by the Jewish and Afrikaner communities that she belonged to and identified with?

These are some of the questions that spurred local lawyer and author Dominique Malherbe to explore the story of her great aunt, who she only met once, and why Goldblatt has been hidden from history. The result is her newly released book, Searching for Sarah: The Woman Who Loved Langenhoven. Milton Shain, emeritus professor of history at the University of Cape Town, calls it “a forensic tour de force” in which “secrets are unveiled and silences broken”.

The book tells the story of how Afrikaans literary icon CJ Langenhoven (who wrote the words of Die Stem) named Sarah Eva Goldblatt executrix of his extensive literary legacy, much to the surprise of the Afrikaner establishment.

Langenhoven died suddenly at the age of 58 in July 1932, but “she kept his legacy and work alive as long as she was alive”, says Malherbe. By the time Goldblatt passed away in 1975, more than two million copies of Langenhoven’s books had been sold, one of the greatest literary successes ever in South Africa. But her role in this success was never acknowledged. Meanwhile, it’s assumed that she had a relationship with Langenhoven, but there is a mystery about whether they had a child together. The author set out to discover Sarah’s story, reclaim her for posterity, and try to find her son.

Malherbe, whose mother is Jewish, explains her connection to Goldblatt. “Sarah arrived in Cape Town from London in 1897. She was my grandfather’s sister, so my mother’s aunt. We have a large family in Israel. My great grandfather, David Goldblatt, was instrumental in getting the Yiddish language recognised in South Africa. Sarah was very devoted to him and to Yiddish, which she spoke growing up. But at some point, there was a falling out in the family and David went to New York City, where he did quite well. Sarah never heard from him again. There is a lot of mystery around why he left.”

She explains that during her research, “from a Jewish point of view, there was the least amount of information about her. There was one book on the Jews of District Six, and there is one photograph of David in it”. But besides for traces of Sarah Goldblatt in academic theses, no one had explored her fascinating story in full – until now.

“Much of what she did was hidden from public view. We have to think about the time she lived. There was a lot of antisemitism in South Africa and around the world,” says Malherbe. “She met Langenhoven, and quickly went to live with him briefly in Oudtshoorn. She started working for him when she was 21 and he was 35. It’s clear they had a strong bond. They worked together on a newspaper – she was the editor. This was when there was a thriving Jewish community in Oudtshoorn.” As part of her research, Malherbe travelled to Oudtshoorn and was saddened to see barely a trace of the Jewish life that once blossomed there.

“When the ostrich industry collapsed, Sarah had to leave, and began a long teaching career in Cape Town,” says Malherbe. “But all the time, she would also work on Langenhoven’s manuscripts. He was a prolific writer, parliamentarian, and lawyer. He wrote everything from science fiction to limericks, and played a key role in getting Afrikaans recognised as a language.”

Just like her father attempted to get Yiddish recognised, here was another man championing a language, and again, Goldblatt became deeply involved. “She was devoted to Afrikaans,” says Malherbe. In fact, many knew her by her Afrikaans nickname, ‘Saartjie’.”

Langenhoven was married, but whenever he came to Cape Town, he would stay with Goldblatt. “Over a 20-year period, they corresponded almost every day. In the Stellenbosch library, I came across 21 volumes of letters that he wrote to her,” says Malherbe. “But in her catalogue, there are gaps of time. I was intrigued, and from family members and stories over the years, I gathered that those gaps might have been when a child [that they had together] was mentioned.”

Malherbe set out to find out if she had a long lost cousin. “All I had to trace him was a strange Afrikaans name, and I knew the person didn’t have family. He was born in 1925.” The results of her discoveries will need to be read in the book.

Malherbe emphasises that just because someone isn’t included in an official record doesn’t mean they don’t have a fascinating and important life story. This is especially true for women.

“Even the late John Kannemeyer – the great Afrikaans biographer who wrote Langenhoven’s life story – made sure that Sarah assumed her place, which was nowhere. The fact that she was a woman, Jewish, and Langenhoven’s mistress didn’t fit well with the story, so he described her as a mad woman. He totally dismissed her.” But Malherbe feels that “we need to celebrate people and recognise their contributions to this country, especially Jewish women”.

As someone who has written two memoirs, Malherbe chose to write the story in the style of a memoir. “I essentially wrote the story as I was discovering it. There was so much to explore, and as a lawyer, I’m interested in finding answers and seeing justice in the world. All of that culminated in this book.”

Did she find what she was looking for? “I think for the most part, I did. But I think in the telling and reading of the story, more will emerge.”