Simon Kooper
Template:Contains Khoekhoe text Simon Kooper, Nama name: ǃGomxab, (before 1860–31 January 1913) was the Captain of the ǃKharakhoen (Fransman Nama), a subtribe of the Nama people in Namibia from 1863 to 1909.
Early life
Kooper was born in Pella in the Northern Cape.[1] It is not known when his clan moved to South-West Africa but in the mid-1850s the Fransman Nama under Piet Koper already resided there.[2] At that time the Fransman Nama were one of the Nama clans allied to the Orlam Afrikaners at Windhoek. When this alliance was defeated by Andersson in the Battle of Otjimbingwe on 15 June 1863, Piet Koper was killed and Simon Kooper ascended to chieftaincy.[2]
Kooper was looking for a place for his clan to settle permanently. Only in 1889 could a missionary be found to stay with them. The Fransman tribe settled at Gochas with him[2] which since then is their clan's main settlement.[3]
Conflict with Imperial Germany
After supporting the ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Nama) under Hendrik Witbooi in their eventually unsuccessful resistance attempt towards German colonialism in South-West Africa, Kooper was forced to sign a protection treaty with the German Empire, represented by Governor Theodor Leutwein. This treaty was in effect until the Herero and Nama War of 1904–1907 began in which Kooper sided with Witbooi again.[1]
The Germans defeated the Nama in the Battle of Swartfontein on 15 January 1905 and forced them to flee first into the Kalahari Desert and then into Bechuanaland, the British colony that later became Botswana. From there they repeatedly and for several years mounted guerrilla-style attacks at the colony's Schutztruppe (Protection Force),[1] actions that made Kooper raise to fame.[2]
Simon Kooper died in Lokgwabe, Botswana, on 31 January 1913.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Shiremo, Shampapi (8 July 2011). "Captain Simon Kooper: The gallant fighter against German colonialism". New Era. p. 6.
- ^ a b c d Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, K". Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ Malan, Johan S (1998). Die Völker Namibias (in German). Windhoek, Göttingen: Klaus Hess. pp. 120–125.
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