Makers and Shapers Profile

Frank Jolles

Person

1931 - 2014

[Source - Nessa Leibhammer for FHYA, 2018, using information from an article called 'Material culture icon' in the Mail and Guardian on 7 March 2014: Frank Jolles began collecting material culture from the KwaZulu-Natal region late in his career. Born on May 9 1931 in Berlin to a Jewish family, he was six when his family fled Europe for England to avoid the Nazi regime. He studied chemistry at Manchester University and linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris. After completing a doctorate in German and English at Göttingen University, Germany, he was employed at the New University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, heading the German Department for 20 years. Jolles took early retirement in 1986 and accepted a position as head of the department of German at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Having settled in Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal, Jolles began researching and collecting in the rural hinterland, thus maintaining an interest in African material culture that he had since his student days. After his retirement from the University KwaZulu-Natal in 1994, he continued to collect, research and write until his death in 2014. He was known for his in-depth and lengthy interviews with makers and his writings brought insights enabled by his linguistic training. Jolles published extensively contributing significantly to the understanding of the material culture of the region. His publications include: Jolles, F. "Zulu beer vessels in the twentieth century: their history, classification and geographical distribution". Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2015. Jolles, F. "Zulu ceramics in transition: Siphiwe MaS'Khakhane Nala and her daughter Nesta Landeleni Nala", Southern African Humanities Vol.25, (2013), 1-24. Jolles, F. "African Dolls: the Dulgar-Collection". Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2010. Jolles, F. "Negotiating relationships: village to city, beadwork to SMS", Southern African Humanities Vol. 18, no. 3 (2006), 119-138. Jolles, F. "Zulu Earplugs: A Study in Transformation", African Arts, Vol. 30, no. 2 (1997), 46-95.]