Breytenbach was an opponent of the apartheid regime, whose work represented a milestone in the development of Afrikaans poetry, formally and politically. His literary reputation is international, with work having been translated into Dutch, English, French and German.

Born on 16 September 1939 in Bonnievale, near Robertson in the Cape, Breyten Breytenbach completed his schooling at Hoërskool Hugenoot in Wellington, Cape. He began his tertiary studies at the University of Cape Town in 1958. His opposition to apartheid saw him leave South Africa for Paris in 1960. In 1962 he married Yolande Ngo Thi Hoang Lien, a Viëtnamese national. His first published work, in 1964, Die Ysterkoei Moet Sweet (The Iron Cow Must Sweat), broke new ground ...