Herman Rex
Full name: Dr. Herman Moritz Rex
Lifespan: 1918 Rustenburg - 1981 [63]³
Occupation: Historian, archivist, theology lecturer, cultural preservationist
Rex was the 7th child of John Bailie George Rex (1873-1932) and Johanna Cornelia Steenkamp (1882-1948). His great-great-grandfather was the South African stamvader George Rex (1765–1839).
He married Marie Smit (nee Kemp) (1925 Humansdorp - ?) from Rustenburg in 1957 in Pretoria North. Marie had two children from a previous marriage; the couple had one daughter together.
Rex grew up in a strongly Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (NHK) environment on a historic farm that had ties to President Kruger’s Waterkloof. He received primary schooling on Boschfontein and the adjacent Waterkloof farm (which previously belonged to Paul Kruger); then Rustenburg Hoërskool from ~1930. He matriculated end of 1935.
Due to financial difficulties, he had to work as a government official, a bank clerk, and a freelance journalist while studying at University of Pretoria (1935-1948), which extended his study period. Post-graduation, he became interested in Afrikaans and Dutch cultural history.
From 1939-1945 he also studied a wide variety of additional subjects including Afrikaans Cultural History, Dutch Cultural History, Economics, Greek, and Philosophy.
In 1939, with the outbreak of WW2, he was treasurer of the Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond, Afrikaanse Studentebond (ASB), and Afrikaanse Jeugbond. He was also a member of the Stormjaers.³
- The Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond (ANS) - renamed the Afrikaanse Studentebond post-1948 - was an Afrikaner nationalist student organisation that strongly opposed South Africa's involvement in the war on the side of Great Britain. It was anti-British, pro-German, and had ties to the Ossewabrandwag. It served as a training ground for future leaders of the National Party.
- The Stormjaers were the elite paramilitary wing of the Ossewabrandwag (OB), a militant Afrikaner nationalist organisation. Formed around August 1940, they were modeled after Nazi Germany’s Sturmabteilung (SA or "Brownshirts") and were dedicated to sabotaging South Africa's war effort during World War II.
A milestone in the life of Rex was the year 1955, in which he obtained the Transvaal Higher Education Diploma (THED) with distinction. In this way, he was enabled to bid farewell to his previous circles of work and enter the service of the Transvaal Education Department:
- Oct 1955-Jan 1956: Assistant teacher, Germiston Boys High.
- Jan-Sep 1956: Danville Laerskool.
- Sep 1956-Dec 1957: Acting lecturer, Pretoria Teachers’ College.
- Jan 1958-Dec 1964: Full lecturer in Godsdiensonderrig (Religious Education), Pretoria Teachers’ College.
He had an “unquenchable zeal” for the Afrikaner people, their culture, and especially their European roots - even from his student days. He balanced a demanding day job, doctoral research (often in his spare time), church archival work, historical society activities, and writing.
Rex was a key figure of the Genootskap Oud-Pretoria, which was instrumental in preserving historic Pretoria buildings (e.g., west façade of Kerkplein 1972), and studied the history of Church Square for ten years.
In 1964, Rex retired from teaching and became archivist of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (based in Pretoria) until his death.
He specialized in the history of the NHK congregations, particularly in the Transvaal/Pretoria region, and produced several congregational histories and books in Afrikaans. Notable publications include:
- Pretoria. Van kerkplaas tot regeringsetel (1956, with later editions/reprints around 1960) - a history of Pretoria from its origins as a church farm to its role as a seat of government.
- Nederduitsch Hervormde Gemeente Bronkhorstspruit (1869-1969).
- Nederduitsch Hervormde Gemeente Zeerust (Marico) (1971).
- Other works on NHK ministers' wives, early Pretoria buildings, and church figures like Prof. Dr. J.H.J.A. Greyvenstein.
- Various articles in Pretoriana.
His writing style combined meticulous archival research with accessible narratives focused on church life, frontier congregations, and the intersection of ecclesiastical and political history in 19th-century South Africa. He is frequently cited in later academic works on NHK history, Pretoria's development, and Afrikaner church studies.
He was long-time editor of Pretoriana and also compiled the full Dec 1975 issue.
His 1974/75 thesis remains an important reference on Sytze Wierda and ZAR public architecture; it is held in the University of Pretoria repository and frequently cited in studies of Transvaal building history and Dutch influence in South African architecture. He continued contributing to Pretoriana and church histories into the early 1980s at least.
Rex died suddenly 29 November 1981, shortly after a church service, and was buried in Rustenburg.
- Smith, P.M. (1975) Argivaris verwerf Doktorsgraad. Die Hervormer, May 1975.
- Pretoriana, No 72, December 1975.
- Ploeger, J. (1988) Ter Heninnering aan Dr. Herman Moritz Rex. Pretoriana, No 93.
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