Stephanus Jacobus du Toit

Rev. Stephanus Jacobus
S.J. du Toit (about 1870) when he was a theological student at Stellenbosch
Born	(1847-10-10)10 October 1847 Plaas Kleinbos, Daljosafat, Paarl
Died	29 May 1911(1911-05-29) (aged 63) Daljosafat, Paarl
Residence	Cape Colony, South African Republic
Occupation	theologian, journalist, politician
Known for	Proponent of the Afrikaans language

Reverend Stephanus Jacobus du Toit (9 October 1847 – 29 May 1911) was a controversial South African nationalist, theologian, journalist and failed politician. In his younger years did much to promote the Afrikaans language as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism. Apart from the years 1882-8 when he was Superintendent of Education in the South African Republic, he lived in or near the town of Paarl in the Cape Colony. Disillusionment with the Kruger regime led him, in later years, to moderate his views. He was instrumental in initiating the translation of the Bible into Afrikaans and was a proponent of the Afrikaans language. He died an outcast.

He was born in 1847 near Paarl in the Cape Colony at Plaas Kleinbos, a farm that had been in the family's possession since their arrival in the Cape as Hugenot refugees in 1688. He was educated at Paarl Gimnasium and studied theology at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch, completing his studies in 1872 and was ordained as a minister in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) (NGK) the same year. Theologically his view were much influenced by the Abraham Kuyper the Dutch Neo-Calvinist thinker. This made many congregations reluctant to invite him to be their minister. In 1875 he became the minister of a new congregation based close to the family farm - that of North Paarl, a post that he held until 1881.