In 2008 history was made in respect of the Helgaard Steyn Award for Literature, as the prize and prize money (of R150 000) were shared, for the first time, by two authors. Both the works received multiple South African prizes and international acclaim since their release in 2004.
Hermann Buhr Giliomee was born in Sterkstroom in the Eastern Cape on 4 April 1938. He attended school at Porterville and studied History at the University of Stel- lenbosch. He subsequently worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and lectured at the University of Stellenbosch. From 1983 to 1998 he was professor in Political Studies at the University of Cape Town and from 1995 to 1997 he was president of the South African Institute of Race Relations. Giliomee is currently an extraordinary professor and research associate of the Department of History at the University of Stellen- bosch.
In 1984, Giliomee was the co-founder of Die Suid- Afrikaan, an Afrikaans magazine of opinions, and, during the 1980s, a regular columnist for the Rand Daily Mail and the Cape Times. He was also an associate at Yale University in the USA (in the 1970s), Cambridge University (1982 – 1983) and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC (1992 – 1993).
He is married to Annette van Coller and they have two daughters and five grandchildren.