Rome, 13 November 2021 – Wilbur Smith, one of the most prolific and famous authors in the world, died a Cape Town, in South Africa. He was 88 years old. His website gave the news: “He left unexpectedly, after a morning of reading and writing, with his wife Niso at his side”. Among his greatest successes: The fate of the lion, The burning beach, The river god, The seventh papyrus, Like the sea. Considered the “master of adventure” and one of the greatest bestselling authors, it has sold beyond 140 million copies of his books in the world, of which 23 million in Italy alone.
“Undisputed and inimitable master of the adventure writing, Wilbur Smith’s novels have captivated readers for over half a century. His best-selling series Courtney, the longest in publishing history, follows the adventures of the Courtney family around the world, spanning generations and three centuries, through critical periods from the dawn of colonial Africa to the American Civil War and the apartheid era in South Africa. In the 49 novels which Smith has published to date, has transported his readers to gold mines in South Africa, piracy in the Indian Ocean, buried treasures in tropical islands, conflict in Arabia and Khartoum, ancient Egypt, Germany and Paris of World War II , India, the Americas and the Antarctic, meeting ruthless diamond and slave traders and big game hunters in the jungles and scrub of the African wilds. However, it was with Taita, the hero of his acclaimed Egyptian series, that Wilbur most identified himself, and River God remains one of his most beloved novels to date, “reads the note announcing his death.
“The very first Wilbur Smith novel When the Lion Feeds, published in 1964, was an instant bestseller, and each of his subsequent novels appeared on the bestseller charts, often at number one, giving the author the opportunity to travel far and wide in search of inspiration and adventure. He was an advocate of deep research, meticulously corroborating every fact and adhering to the advice of his first publisher, William Heinemann’s Charles Pick, to “write about the things you know well.” Smith, an experienced bushman, survivor and big game hunter, was licensed as a pilot, was an experienced scuba diver, a conservator, ran his own game reserve and owned a tropical island in the Seychelles. He also used his vast experiences outside of Africa in places like Switzerland and rural Russia to help create his imaginary worlds. His life, detailed in his autobiography, On Leopard Rock, it was poignant and full of incidents like all of his novels. It is named after Wilbur Wright, one of Wilbur Wright’s pioneer brothers, Smith was born on January 9, 1933 in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, in Central Africa. His father, Herbert Smith, was a sheet metal worker and a strict discipline and it was his more art-inclined mother, Elfreda, who encouraged young Wilbur to read the likes of CS Forester, Rider Haggard and John Buchan. “
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