This Day in History: October 2, 1901
Additional Date: October 2, 1901
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie (Roy) Campbell was born in Durban, Natal, and was considered one of South Africa’s most esteemed English poets. The son of Dr Samuel George Campbell, Campbell attended the Durban High School (now Durban Boys' High), where he counted literature and outdoor life among his first loves.
Campbell founded the magazine, Voorslag, with William Plomer – a satirical publication, after first establishing his name as a poet some years earlier.
Campbell was an accomplished horse rider and fisherman and also fluent in isiZulu. His international fame led to his undertaking a series of lecture tours in Spain, the USA and Canada and his translations of literary works from Spanish, Portuguese and French broadened the English literature. He was killed in a car accident in 1957 while on holiday in Portugal.