Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi (1875-1945) was a South African novelist and poet who excelled in the Xhosa praise-poem.

Samuel Mqhayi was born on Dec. 1, 1875, among the Xhosa of Cape Province (South Africa). He was trained as a teacher at the Lovedale institution, but he soon became famous as a traditional poet. He began his writing career by contributing to various Xhosa newspapers and by writing a story entitled Ityala lama-wele (1914; The Lawsuit of the Twins). Dealing with a trial in a tribal court, it was mainly designed to extol customary judicial procedure, which was threatened by the growing implantation of European courts.

Mqhayi's deep concern with the lore and history of his people prevented him from teaching at Lovedale, for he could not agree with the official version of South African history in the textbooks. He therefore devoted himself more and more to writing. His major imaginative work...