This remarkable story of Fanny Klenerman and the Vanguard Bookshop first appeared in the journal Jewish Affairs in 2017. Click here to download the original article which includes full notes.
A lifelong rebel, a trade unionist and a Trotskyite, Fanny Klenerman’s name is chiefly associated with the Vanguard Bookshop, iconic of leftist circles in Johannesburg during the period 1931-1974. Although her shop is often cited, most recently by Mark Gevisser in his autobiography, Lost and Found in Johannesburg (Jonathan Ball, 2014), its history has never been told, while its eccentric owner has been largely forgotten.
Fanny Klenerman, founder and director of the Vanguard Bookshop, Johannesburg (via Jewish Affairs)
In 1982, Fanny dictated her story to Ruth Sack, who recorded it on to audiotape and subsequently transcribed it. At that stage Fanny was virtually blind and unable to read or write her memoirs independently. In 1988, the tapes, the transcription, and a collection of pamphlets were donated to the Department of Historical Papers at Wits University by Rose Zvi, a South African novelist now living in Sydney, Australia. Zvi, who had met her in her shop, arranged for Ruth Sack to record her story. On the basis of her memoir, this article will attempt...
