Cape Town - His compassion and willingness to help around the house are some of the things Rosalie Small will miss about her writer-husband Adam Small.
Small died on Saturday after complications from an operation earlier that day.
Rosalie said she will miss having him around, and said she even found herself sleeping on his side of the bed.
“One cannot block out your grief, but you can also be thankful to have shared the life.”
She said she would cherish memories she shared with her husband and vowed never to remove the rings he gave her in their 47 years of marriage.
“My left ring finger has two rings, there is my engagement ring and wedding band. On my right hand I also have two rings, one he gave me at one of our wedding anniversaries, and a sapphire one he gave on our 45th anniversary.
“I just mentioned to him that he must get a sapphire, because that is tradition, and he went out and got me one. I wasn’t hinting or anything. They are very precious to me. I will never take them off. They are my memories. I don’t know what widows do, but I will not take them off.”
Small was born in the Western Cape. He studied languages and philosophy at UCT, and went on to study abroad. He later helped found the University of the Western Cape. He was also a philosophy lecturer at UWC and it was there that he met Rosalie, who was one of his students at the institution.
He was part of the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1970s, but is better known for his Afrikaans writings that capture the tragedies of apartheid.
He died after surgery, but his widow said she would not draw a direct link between the operation and her husband’s death.
“He had a weak heart for a number of years and was diagnosed for about 12 years already. His system was probably not coping. Surgery is very invasive."President Jacob Zuma was among many to send his condolences to the family. “We have lost a legendary writer and valuable thought leader. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”
Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa also paid tribute to the writer and said his death was a sad loss to the nation.
“Prof Adam Small has occupied a unique and inimitable place in South African literature, academia, and culture. At a time when the apartheid government sought to use Afrikaans as a tool of oppression, Prof Adam Small strove to decolonise the Afrikaans language. Through his poetry he asserted the language as a language of the people and as a language through which the oppressed could articulate their particular vantage point in the world and claim their freedom.”
UWC said they were "deeply saddened" by his passing and that he would be remembered as a “thoughtfully measured philosopher”. UWC rector and vice-chancellor Professor Tyrone Pretorius said he was grateful for the role Small played at the university.
“Professor Small was one of the great pillars of this institution and we will remember him for his many contributions to this country and UWC. The University sends its sincere condolences to the Small family. We have a long-standing relationship with the family, both Adam and Rosalie worked at UWC. He will be dearly missed.”
He is survived by two sons from a previous marriage and has a son and daughter with Rosalie. He also leaves behind eight grandchildren.