"Du Bois, great desolating native war" Read the full letter

Dramatis Personae

The ‘Dramatis Personae’ provides biographical and other information about all the people to whom Olive Schreiner wrote letters, and also concerning a large number of the people her letters mention as well. Where appropriate and possible, references to the South African and the Oxford dictionaries of national biography and also other relevant publications have been provided.

Just click on the letters of the alphabet below to see the information. In addition, clicking on the live links on people’s names in Olive Schreiner’s letters will also take you straight to this information.

Key: recipient icon signifies the person is a recipient (and mentioned) | mentioned icon signifies the person is only mentioned


A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M | N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z|All

M
NameDescription
icon MacDonald, GeorgeGeorge MacDonald (1824 - 1905) was a Scottish writer and poet and also a Christian minister. In a le...
icon Macfayden, IreneIrene Macfadyen was a member of the Cape Women’s Enfranchisement League (WEL) and for a time s...
icon Mackenzie, JohnJohn MacKenzie (1835 - 1899) was a London Mission Society missionary in South Africa and also an adv...
icon Malan, CommandantWynand Charl Malan (1872 - 1953) was a Boer soldier and farmer. He made a name for himself during th...
icon Malan, Francois StephanusFrancois Stephanus (F.S.) Malan (1871 - 1941) was a South African newspaper editor, politician and c...
icon Marriot, AileenAileen Marriott was the wife of Edward Marriott. Schreiner met the couple when she was staying at Ma...
icon Marriot, Major EdwardEdward Frere Marriott (1854 - 1903) was a member of the Indian Staff Corps and worked in the Militar...
icon Marriots (The)Refers to Aileen Marriott and
icon Marshall, CatherineCatherine Elizabeth Marshall (1880 - 1960) was a prominent British feminist and internationalist, an...
icon Martin, MrReverend G.A. Martin (in some letters he is referred to as Martain) had formerly been a member of th...
icon Marx, EleanorEleanor Marx (1855 - 1898), the youngest daughter of Karl Marx, became a close friend of Olive Schre...
icon Masabalala, SamuelSamuel Masabalala - referred to as Masabela by Schreiner - was a black political and labour leader ...
icon Mattison, AlfredAlfred Mattison, usually referred to as Alf or Mat by Schreiner and other friends, was a prominent f...
icon McNaughton, MargaretMargaret McNaughton was someone Schreiner met while she was living in Colesburg in 1874 working as g...
icon Merriman, AgnesAgnes Merriman nee Vintcent (1854 - 1923) was the wife of John X. Merriman and the daughter of Josep...
icon Merriman, John X.John Xavier Merriman (1841-1926) was a prominent South African politician and the last Prime Ministe...
icon Mill, John StuartJohn Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) was a British writer and philosopher whose work had a powerful and la...
icon Milner, AlfredAlfred Milner (1854 - 1925) was Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa f...
icon Moffat, JohnJohn Moffat (1835 - 1918) was a London Missionary Society missionary variously stationed in Bechuana...
icon Molteno, BettyElizabeth (Betty) Molteno (1852 - 1927) was one of Olive Schreiner’s closest and most loved fr...
icon Molteno, CharlesJohn Charles Molteno was a brother of Betty Molteno and Caroline Murray nee Molteno. He was the husb...
icon Molteno, LucyLucy Molteno was the wife of John Charles Molteno, a brother of Betty Molteno and Caroline Murray ne...
icon Molteno, MargaretMargaret Molteno was a daughter of Percy Molteno and lived in Britain; she married her cousin George...
icon Molteno, PercyPercy Alport Molteno (1861 - 1937) was a brother of Schreiner’s close friends Betty Molteno an...
icon Molteno, Charles Charles Molteno was the husband of Olive Schreiner's younger friend Lucy Molteno, and a brother of B...
icon Montefiore, DoraDorothy (Dora) Frances Montefiore (nee Fuller) (1851 - 1933) was a British socialist and feminist ac...
icon Moore, GeorgeGeorge Augustus Moore (1852 - 1933) was an Irish writer and novelist. Schreiner’s letters duri...
icon Muirhead, LeneLene or Lena Muirhead was the wife of Schreiner’s friend Bob Muirhead. In her letters to Muirh...
icon Muirhead, Robert FranklinRobert Muirhead was a mathematics teacher who also worked for the Glasgow Socialist League and Edwar...
icon Müller, Henrietta(Frances) Henrietta Müller (1851 - 1906) was a member of the Men and Women’s Club and a friend...
icon Murray, A. Haldane(Andrew) Haldane Murray (1866 - 1916) was married to Schreiner's friend Mimmie Murray. He was a son ...
icon Murray, AndreAndre Murray was a daughter of Schreiner’s friends A. Haldane and Mimmie or Minnie Murray who ...
icon Murray, BobbieBobbie Murray was a son of Schreiner’s friends A. Haldane and Mimmie Murray who lived on the f...
icon Murray, CarolineCaroline Murray nee Molteno (1853 - 1937) was a daughter of Sir John Molteno, who had been the first...
icon Murray, CharlesDr Charles Frederick Kennan Murray (1847 - 1930) was married to Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray a...
icon Murray, GeorgeGeorge Murray (1893 - 1918) was a son of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her husband Ch...
icon Murray, KathleenKathleen Murray (1891 - 1984) was a daughter of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her hus...
icon Murray, LennoxLennox Murray was a son of Schreiner’s friend Caroline Murray and her husband Charles. When Le...
icon Murray, Mimmie or MinnieMimmie or Minnie Murray nee Parkes (1865-1929) was a friend of Schreiner's who lived and worked on t...
icon Mushet(t), MrJames Wellwood Mushet (1881 - 1954) was a businessman and Cape parliamentarian. He grew up in Scotla...