Anna Böeseken (born Anna Jacoba Böeseken in Pretoria on 23 October 1905; died on 28 June 1997 in Cape Town) was a South African history academic, journalist and writer who wrote under the pen name AJ.[1] She is best known for her expertise as an authority of the history of the Dutch East India Company that existed between 1602 and 1798.[2]

Anna Jacoba Böeseken
Born(1905-10-23)23 October 1905
Died28 June 1997(1997-06-28) (aged 91)
Occupation(s)Historian
Writer
Known forAuthority of history of the Dutch East India Company

Biography

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Böeseken's parents were originally Dutch. She studied in both South Africa and Europe before the second world war.

She is regarded by modern scholars as one of the leading experts on the history and evolution of the Dutch East India Company. The 2013 publication in the journal Historia volume 48, Issue 2, titled "Historia - Dr. Anna Boëseken (1905-1997) : kenner van die Kaapse VOC-geskiedenis (English: Expert of Cape VOC history) "examined her contribution in making the history of the VOC in South Africa accessible and interpreting it for both the expert and layman".[2]

On June 18, 1964 she founded the Genealogical Society which published a quarterly journal Familia.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Romero, Patricia (31 August 1998). Profiles in Diversity: Women in the New South Africa. MSU Press. p. 1900. ISBN 9780870139482.
  2. ^ a b Wet, Con De (1 November 2003). "Dr. Anna Boëseken (1905-1997) : kenner van die Kaapse VOC-geskiedenis". Historia (in Afrikaans). 48 (2). ISSN 0018-229X.
  3. ^ Breuer, Rosemarie. "Anna Jacoba Böeseken". www.stellenboschwriters.com. Retrieved 29 November 2017.