ADAM SMALL DIES AT 79

Small died at the age of 79 on Saturday morning after complications following an operation

In 2009‚ the South African Academy for the Arts and Sciences awarded him a medal upon the celebration of its centenary‚ and in 2012 he won the biggest Afrikaans literary award of all‚ the Hertzog Prize.

Small was a renowned academic‚ educating many students first as a philosophy lecturer and then as a professor of social work at the University of the Western Cape in Bellville.

The news of his death on Saturday was met with shock and sadness. Writer and journalist Jason Lloyd said it was a terrible day for black Afrikaans literature in particular‚ while radio talk show host Heindrich Wyngaard said Afrikaans had lost its greatest activist for reconciliation between white and Coloured users of the language.

UWC academic Steward van Wyk described Small as the conscience of the Afrikaans community.

Small is survived by his wife‚ Rosalie‚ and four children‚ two from a previous marriage.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalised.