Stephanus Johannes Paulus Eloff

Place: Pretoria

Born: 1885

Death: 1947

Biography:

Fanie Eloff was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1885 as the sixth child and second son of Frederik Christoffel Eloff and Elsie Francina Eloff (née Kruger). He attended the Staats Model School in Pretoria until the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902). After the war, he completed his schooling and enrolled at the South African School of Mines in Johannesburg for a course in geology. In 1908, he decided to further his studies in Europe, at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He was inspired by the sculpture of the city and enrolled for an Anatomy course at the Jardin Des Plantes and received his first sculpture classes at the art school of Peter David Edstrom, in Paris. In 1912, he took part in the 130 De Salon, Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées and created his work titled the Boxer. After the acclaim this work received in the press, he was admitted to Union Internationale des Beaux-Arts et des Lettres. With the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1919), his parents persuaded him to return to South Africa. In 1922, he returned to Paris and in 1924 he entered 2 sculptures in the Olympic Games in Paris of which Boxer was one. He became known for his dancing nudes and with the invasion of Paris during the Second World War (1939-1945) Fanie had to flee and he returned to South Africa. In 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honour for art by the South African Academy of Science & Art. His health gradually deteriorated and he died during emergency surgery at the General Hospital in Pretoria. His entire estate, including the contents of his studio in Paris, was put on public auction in 1948. Fanie Eloff is buried in the Rebecca street cemetery in Pretoria West.