D. C. Boonzaier

D. C. Boonzaier
Portrait by Moses Kottler, 1918.
Born	11 November 1865 Patatsrivier, Carnarvon, Cape Colony
Died	20 March 1950(1950-03-20) (aged 84) Cape Town
Nationality	South African
Occupation	Cartoonist
Children	Gregoire Boonzaier

Daniël Cornelis Boonzaier (11 November 1865 – 20 March 1950), more commonly known as D.C. Boonzaier, was a South African cartoonist. He was famous for his caricatures of Cape politicians and celebrities at the turn of the century, and later for his anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist cartoons for Die Burger. He fathered the artist Gregoire Boonzaier.

Boonzaier was born on a Karoo farm in the country districts near Harmsfontein (later renamed Carnarvon), then part of the Cape Colony, in 1865. He received his first education at Carnarvon and joined the local magistrate's office as a clerk. In 1882, when he was 16 years old, Boonzaier moved to Cape Town to work in the office of the Master of the Cape Supreme Court, having been offered the job because of his impressive copperplate handwriting. He also worked in the Colonial Office and Orphan Chamber.

Boonzaier had drawn amateur caricatures since 1884. He was inspired by the work of William Howard Schröder, a cartoonist and publisher of the humorous weekly, The Knobkerrie, whom he later met when a work of his was accepted for publication. Boonzaier had no formal art tuition, but closely studied the work of George du Maurier and Phil May of Punch fame.