In November 2000 Fritz wrote the following to his second cousin, Carine Nel, who was putting together a book of letters and other documents descibing the lives as missionaries in Zululand of her great-grandparents, Friedrich and Johanna Schumann:

"You wrote that my father died suddenly the night before a wedding.  It was the wedding of Luischen Bősser and Hugo Műller of Pomeroy, held on the small Bősser farm near Bethel, where Walter Schirge later lived. My father had never been ill; he died quite unexpectedly of a stroke [at 53]. I had just completed my first year of teaching [aged 23] - at Warner Beach. I earned ₤21 [US$85] per month and had to make payments of ₤6-6s-6d [US$26] on a student loan. Board and lodging cost me ₤9 [US$36], so I had about ₤6 [US$24] left in my pocket. There was no widow's pension in those days and, since we [the rest of the family: mother and eight siblings] had lived in a rented house – the teacher's house at Glűckstadt – my mother had no home and no income. We had to leave the house. My three youngest siblings (Kurt, Eduard and Ulla) were still at school, and the future looked very bleak. I was transferred [by the Education Department] to Durban and we rented a place in Escombe, between Durban and Pinetown. For a time, I tried, as the eldest son, to send the younger siblings to school at Hermannsburg, but that wasn't possible with my ₤6 per month, so they had to learn how to earn a living early on – Kurt in the building industry, Eduard in the Post Office and Ulla, after a short course at the Technical College, as a secretary. I was appointed a relief teacher and was sent all over the province [Natal] to help out. My siblings more or less stood on their own feet and could look after their own futures, and my mother stayed stayed either with Brunhilde [second daughter] at their Gingindhlovu farm or with Friedeborg [third daughter] at their Denny Dalton farm. My mother died in 1976 and is buried in the Ashley Cemetery in Pinetown."

(translated by Helmuth from "Friedrich und Johanne Schumann" by Carine Nel, 2002)

(Written by Fritz about his father Friedrich Wilhelm Jan Schumann)

He was born at Emlalazi, a mission station in Zululand as the eldest of 12 children on 23 Mar 1890.

His only playmates were Zulu boys and the only schooling he received was what his mother could teach him. He herded cattle with the Zulu herd boys, hunted with them and learned the art of stick fighting, in which he became the champion. He was 100% at home in the Zulu language.

When he was about 16, an uncle of his (Peter Fröhling) needed an assistant teacher for his private school, called "Single Tree", near Wartburg. He asked Friedrich to help him and in a dictation test he had more mistakes than the Class 1 pupils ! Years later a visiting school inspector recognized his potential as a teacher and after passing an entrance exam, he was admitted as a student to the Natal Teacher's Training College, where he qualified as a teacher in Govt. service.

His first appointment was to Lilienthal and then he became headmaster in Glückstadt in approx. 1916. He stayed in that post until his death in 1943. In the 1930's he studied for a university degree through UNISA (correspondence) with Zulu as his main subject and passed with flying colours.

He was the founder of the Deutscher Lehrerverein Südafrikas. This is a body which fosters and promotes the teaching of the German language in the German church and private schools scattered throughout the country. He was chariman for many years. He was the organist in church, conducted the church choir and was also a member of the brass band. 

He was very good natured, helpful and well-liked by all. The Zulus have a custom of giving their own names (usually descriptive of some characteristic or physical feature) to other people. His Zulu name was "Masesela", meaning "the one who helps others".

HEIGHT: Approx. 5 ft 11 in

Note added by his daughter Rona:

According to a newspaper article published a few weeks after Mr. F.W.J. Schumann’s death, he had completed a manuscript, with photographic illustrations of a book “Tshaka, the Napoleon of South Africa”, which hadn’t yet been published. In the article it says “This book should prove good reading, for it deals with a subject of which the writer had profound knowledge”.

Has anyone seen this manuscript? If so please let me know.
Email: rona@slicksites.com.au.

As a child growing up in South Africa my grandfather played a major role in my development, academically, sportswise and as a person. The first thing that always impressed me was how tall he was for his age. Unlike the stereotypical short granny and grandpa, he was enormous, extremely healthy and had a mind as quick as a ferret. He impressed me in every way.

When I was young, I didn’t know just how rough life was for the majority of people in South Africa. I didn’t know what Apartheid was or why Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. My grandparents managed to shelter me from the tough world outside and with them are some of my fondest memories. I always looked forward to the days spent with Oma and Opa. I was never bored at their house, even by myself. I delighted in picking ‘mielies’ which in Afrikaans is corn, to make sure the monkeys wouldn’t steal them first. I think the positive aura of my grandfather always encouraged me to further myself. He would let me beat him in chess, ludo and many other board games. But the most important thing he did for me was to make me comfortable with the concept of moving overseas to Australia. Despite my immense sadness, I knew that it was the best thing to do, and my grandfather had always told stories about kangaroos, koalas and of travellers who popped up in this strange land where people wore akubra hats and had barbeques, which I found very funny.

He helped so much in assisting me to cope with life in such subtle ways, especially using his favourite character ‘Bubli’ in many of his epics of overseas travel. I am so glad that he was a major player in the moulding of my life.
(Written about 1995)