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National Women's Monument

The National Women's Monument in Bloemfontein, South Africa, commemorates about 27,000 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Second Boer War. It was designed by Pretoria architect Frans Soff and sculpted by Anton van Wouw. The monument features a 35-metre obelisk, low semi-circular walls, and a central bronze group based on a sketch by Emily Hobhouse, showing two sorrowing women and a dying child in the Springfontein camp. The monument was unveiled on 16 December 1913 before about 20,000 people. Emily Hobhouse’s ashes were later placed at its foot, and nearby are the graves of several notable figures.

National Women\'s Monument obelisk with a bronze woman and child sculpture at the base, framed by trees and shrubs.
The National Women\'s Monument in Bloemfontein, showing the tall obelisk and the bronze figure group at its base.
June 2012 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
National Women\'s Monument with a tall obelisk and bronze figures of two women on the pedestal against a blue sky.
The National Women\'s Monument features a tall obelisk and bronze figures of two women at its base.
April 2012 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
National Women\'s Monument with a tall obelisk and bronze figures at its base, seen from the steps below.
The National Women’s Monument in Bloemfontein, with its tall obelisk and bronze figures at the base, photographed from the broad steps below.
© · Public domain
The National Women\'s Monument stands on a raised base in a grassy landscape with a paved path leading toward it and a modern building nearby.
The National Women\'s Monument rises above the open grounds, with a path, building and flags visible nearby.
July 2014 © User:Katangais · CC BY-SA 3.0
National Women’s Monument statue group showing a man on horseback reaching toward a woman holding a baby.
The Die Afskeid statue greets visitors at the National Women’s Monument.
August 2011 © · CC BY-SA 3.0

Identification

TitleNational Women's Monument
TypeMonument / sculpture group
Original nameNasionale Vrouemonument / Das Nationale Frauendenkmal / Vrouemonument

Location and ownership

Heritage statusProvincial Heritage Site in the Free State
Nearby museumThe Anglo-Boer War Museum is permanently located on the same premises and was inaugurated nearby in 1931
Nearby gravesChristiaan de Wet, Rev. John Daniel Kestell, and Marthinus Theunis Steyn and his wife are buried beside the monument
Emily Hobhouse ashesBuried at the foot of the monument 13 years after the unveiling
Listed as national monument since1982
Annual visitationStudents of C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje visit the monument annually, on a 10 km hike, to honor Steyn and its historical significance
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceFree State
LocationBloemfontein, South Africa
SettingAbout 3 km south of central Bloemfontein, against the surrounding hills

Historical context

Project initiationAfter returning to South Africa, Steyn formed a committee to launch the project
CommemoratesApproximately 27,000 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Second Boer War
Origin of ideaProposed by Marthinus Steyn after the Boer War while he was receiving medical treatment in Europe; supported by Emily Hobhouse and the Afrikaans poet Totius
Rejected alternative conceptA school or hospital was proposed instead, but rejected as lacking inspiration; several Afrikaner/Boer organizations supported the monument instead
PurposeCommemorative memorial to Boer women and children who suffered and died in British concentration camps during the Second Boer War

Creator

SculptorAnton van Wouw
Designer / architectFrans Soff (Pretoria architect, 1867–1936)

Discovery and provenance

Funding£10,000 raised from the Afrikaner community between 1907 and 1911

History and restoration

Unveiling date16 December 1913
Unveiling attendanceAbout 20,000 South Africans
Construction delayStart of construction was delayed by English-speaking members of the Bloemfontein Town Council because they felt the memorial would reflect poorly on Great Britain and local war supporters
Malan's statementHe declared Tibbie Steyn the last link to the original Boer Republics
Burial officiantDr. D. F. Malan
Burials on siteThe burial of Marthinus Steyn at the foot of the structure began a new era of commemorations; Tibbie Steyn was buried beside him in 1955 despite her objections to burial use of the grounds
Other memorials on siteSince 1960, other Second Boer War memorials have been erected on the monument grounds

Physical characteristics

HeightAbout 35 m
Main formAn obelisk with low semicircular walls on both sides

Materials

Central bronze group materialBronze
Main materialKroonstad sandstone

Appearance

Hobhouse's criticismShe felt the sculpture did not do justice to the scene and that the child looked asleep rather than at death's door
Emily Hobhouse's roleShe sketched or co-designed the central group and later criticized the finished sculpture
Central group inspirationBased on Emily Hobhouse's account of a scene she described at Springfontein station on 15 May 1901
Central figure depictionA barefoot woman holding her dead or dying child on her lap, with another woman moving away in the distance
Central bronze groupA bronze group of two mourning women and a dying child in the Springfontein concentration camp
Iconographic referencesModeled on Christian imagery of the Pietà and Anna selbdritt

Significance

Historical significanceIt became one of the primary sites dedicated to the legacy of the Second Boer War
Political significanceIt helped create a new national consciousness among white South Africans and supported Boer nationalism
Ideological meaningAn expression of the Boer 'volksmoeder' ideal, extending women's maternal role from the household to the nation
Historical interpretationSelective remembrance of Boer women in concentration camps was used to justify violence in defense of the vulnerable
Later interpretationIts aesthetic and commemorative scope widened over time; it later became synonymous with the suffering of women and children in British concentration camps