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Learn More about Heinrich Egersdörfer

Biography

Heinrich Egersdörfer was a German-born illustrator and cartoonist who eventually settled in South Africa. In Germany, he was a lithographer for the Leipziger Illustrierten Zeitung. He was a part of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, worked in England, and then later emigrated to South Africa in 1879.

Five years later in Cape Town he, along with some partners, opened The South African Illustrated News. It closed within a year and Heinrich moved to Australia not to return for about 10 years. It was at this time he started painting wildlife studies and his work then appeared in such periodicals as The Cape Argus, The Owl, and others. From 1899 to 1901, he was a correspondent for The Graphic. Many of Hienrich’s illustrations can now be found in the Africana Museum.

After the death of his wife and teenage son coupled with some financial hardships, he returned to Europe and eventually London where he died in 1915.