Henk van Woerden (1947–2005)

Henk van Woerden mixes the story of Demitrios Tsafendas, the half cast assassin of South African prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd, with his own migration history and a modern day travel story, in the style of Jonathan Raban and Bruce Chatwin.

The life story of Dimitri Tsafendas, the man who murdered PM Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid.

The story really is simply chronology of Tsafendas, the son of a Greek South African and his Black maid. It follows him through his disturbing childhood, his abandonment by his family as they move from their native Mozambique to South Africa. After his family leaves him, Tsafendas travels the world as, more or less, a vagrant, getting kicked out of some countries, thrown into mental show more hospitals in others, all the while trying to get back into the country of his education, South Africa (he was black listed for being, among other things, a communist). Obviously, he eventually gets back into the nation, and ends up killing the PM in parliament.

The story weaves Tsafendas story with the story of the author, who left South Africa shortly after the murder of the PM, because of his anger and disdain for the regime. The weaving makes for an interesting read, though it would have been even more interesting if the story weaved Verwoerd’s life story with that of Tsafendas. show less

Henk van Woerden was a Dutch writer and painter. Born in the Netherlands his parents moved to South Africa when he was three years old. Van Woerden moved to Amsterdam at the age of 20. His book Een mond vol glas was published in English as A Mouthful of Glass or The assassin: a story of race and rage in the land of Apartheid (American edition, transl. by Dan Jacobson, 2000)

Ultramarijn is Van Woerden's last novel, with which he broke through to a larger audience. While the Mediterranean is a show more familiar setting for novels, the choice of locating the story of this novel in Turkey is novel. Images of the landscape,colours and the role of music in the story, create an sensuous experience.

At the beginning of the book, the main character, Joakim has an incestuous relation with his half-sister, Aysel. To put an end to that relation, Aysel is sent to Europe, and Joakim will never see her again. Joakim grows up lonely, in his poverty-stricken village, and becomes a locally famous musician, playing the lute, often performing in pubs in a nearby coastal village, which gradually develops into a seaside resort, attracting Western tourists. One day, Joakim meets a girl, who reminds him of Aysel, and falls in love with her.

The novel is poetic, but with disturbing undertones of incestuousness. as I was reading it slowly, the novel grew on me, and I kept thinking about it for a long time after reading it.

Ultramarijn has been translated in various languages, including Czech and Chinese. show less

This book is the portuguese translation of the dutch original Een Mond Vol Glas, the first book-length biography of Demitrios Tsafendas, a mozambican of Greek descent who, in 1966, killed South Africa's prime minister and principal architect of the apartheid state, Hendrik Verwoerd. A humane portrait of a troubled man in a pityless era.