Wilbur Smith
South African novelist (1933–2021) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wilbur Addison Smith (9 January 1933 – 13 November 2021) was a Northern Rhodesian-born British-South African novelist specializing in historical fiction about international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries.
This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (February 2023) |
Wilbur Smith | |
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Born | (1933-01-09)9 January 1933[1][2] Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) |
Died | 13 November 2021(2021-11-13) (aged 88) Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa |
Occupation | Novelist |
Genre | Nature, adventure |
Notable works | When the Lion Feeds The Dark of the Sun Shout at the Devil The Sunbird Eagle in the Sky |
Spouse | Anne Rennie (1957–1962) Jewell Slabbart (1964 – unknown date) Danielle Thomas (1971–1999) Mokhiniso Rakhimova (2000–2021) |
Children | Shaun Christian Lawrence |
Website | |
wilbursmithbooks |
He gained a film contract with his first published novel, When the Lion Feeds,[3] which encouraged him to become a full-time writer. He went on to write three long chronicles of the South African experience, which became best-sellers. He acknowledged his publisher Charles Pick's advice to "write about what you know best";[4] his work focuses on southern African ways of life, with emphasis on hunting, mining, romance, and conflict.
By the time of his death in 2021, he had published 49 books. They have sold at least 140 million copies,[5] 24 million of them in Italy (by 2014).[6]