“If you love life, then it’s the field for you. It will lead you, as it led me, because I love people, and I care about the quality of what they do,” said Elizabeth Sneddon, South Africa’s first speech and drama professor, who died on Thursday at the age of 98.
Sneddon, who never married, died at her home in Durban, a local radio station reported.
The Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) biggest theatre, was named after her in recognition of all the work she had done at the former University of KwaZulu-Natal before she retired.
She started working at the former University of Natal in 1951 and went on to become a professor.
Professor Mervyn McMurtry, director of drama and performance studies at the UKZN, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday that Sneddon’s passing signals “an end of an era”.
“Her impact was [felt] right across South Africa in terms of the people that she taught and trained,” he said.
McMurtry described Sneddon as a “formidable presence, although very slight in stature. She could be indefatigable, dogmatic, inspirational, wily, obstinate, flirtatious and gracious.
“She had to battle for many, many years to get what she wanted.”
In a tribute to Sneddon, McMurtry wrote on the UKZN website that “her ‘flame’ will continue to burn on through many, many people of all ages and races in whom she instilled that ‘deeper appreciation of life’s possibilities’.”
“During her lifetime, Professor Sneddon founded, built or adapted eight theatres and directed more than 70 productions in Durban, particularly plays by Shakespeare, the playwright she most loved.
“She taught much more than ‘speech’ and ‘drama’; she focused on humanity, on what she regarded as ultimate values,” he wrote.
Debbie Lutge, head of the drama department at the Durban Institute of Technology, said Sneddon’s death is “absolutely devastating news”.
“She’s been an absolute beacon in KwaZulu-Natal for virtually all theatre practices. She was responsible for building the Sneddon theatre [at the UKZN],” she said.
Lutge said she was saddened by Sneddon’s death and described her as being the “most influential women in theatre”.
“She empowered people through communication,” she said.