Wilbur A. Smith

His first two marriages were unsuccessful and resulted in three children. He had two sons, Kawrence and Shaun, and one daughter Christian.

In 1971, he married one of his huge fans, Danielle Thomas. The two remained married for 28 years until she passed away from debilitating cancer.He also adopted his third wife’s son from a previous relationship, Dieter Schmidt.

In 2000, he married MokhinisoRakhimova. She is 39 years younger than him, but the couple has been successful and they are currently living happily together.

He was born on January 9, 1933 in Kabwe, Zambia. While still an infant, he suffered from cerebral malaria and was diagnosed by doctors as doomed to live a life of brain damage if he survived at all. As if a miracle, he survived the illness and went on to live an extraordinary life.

His father owned a cattle ranch and his mother was an avid book lover. She encouraged his love for literature, while his father did not approve of his pursuit of writing. He went on to attend ‘Cordwalles Preparatory School’ in Natal, South Africa.

For secondary school, he attended ‘St. Michael’s Academy for Young Gentlemen’. During his time here, the entire school showed little interest in literary pursuits. He did begin a school newspaper, which he wrote all the content for (other than the sports pages). His column became so popular it was circulated all the way to St. Annes and Wykham Collegiate.

Upon graduation from ‘Rhodes University’ in Grahamstown, South Africa, he realized his true dream was to become a journalist. His father was against this notion and told his son to get a real job. Smith followed his father’s advice and became a chartered accountant, got married, and had children.

His first marriage ended in divorce at which point he decided to return to his true passion, literature. In 1964, he published ‘When the Lion Feeds’, his first successful novel.

His extreme success with his first real novel allowed him to become the writer he had always wanted to be. From that point on he has published an average of one book every 1-2 years.

For the remainder of the 60s, he published ‘The Dark of the Sun’,‘The Sound of Thunder’, and ‘Shout at the Devil’. His ‘Dark of the Sun’ novel was adapted to film and called ‘The Mercenaries’, which debuted in 1968.

During the 70s he was able to publish 9 books in just 10 years. ‘Sparrow Falls’, his eleventh book was giant success. During the decade, his novels ‘Gold Mine’, and ‘The Diamond Hunters’ were adapted into the movies ‘Gold’ and ‘The Kingfisher Caper’ respectively.

In 1964, his agent in London sent his novel ‘When the Lion Feeds’, to the Managing Director of the publishing house. When the publishing company received the novel, they immediately gave him an unheard of advance of 2,000 pounds. It was agreed that he would additionally receive 10% royalty. Together, these terms allowed him to live off this book alone for the next five years. Later the book became a film.