Russel Viljoen is Professor of History in the Department of History, University of
South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. His area of research is 18th century colonial
South Africa, with specific reference to the indigenous Khoikhoi peoples of South
Africa, during the Dutch VOC rule at the Cape of Good Hope. He has published widely on
social, religious, and cultural aspects of Khoikhoi history, including the social history of diseases
(smallpox), crime and violence, religion and missionaries, representation and art, and
biographies. He authored Jan Paerl: A Khoikhoi in Cape Colonial Society, 1761-185l
(Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 2006). He is the co-editor with Poonam Bala of a new
publication currently under review, entitled: Disease and Discovery: Colonial Conquest and
Indigenous Communities. He is also currently working on a manuscript, entitled Modest
Histories: Khoikhoi and Colonists at the Cape of Good Hope which is a collection of narratives
depicting the lives and livelihoods of Khoikhoi and colonial individuals during the 18th century
residing in the colonial district of Swellendam, South Africa. Based on court records, missionary
diaries, and travel accounts, he tracked and traced the “lived experiences” of Khoikhoi characters
within a changing Cape-Dutch colonial society. He obtained his undergraduate BA degree from
the University of the Western Cape majoring in History and Anthropology. He obtained his MA
from the same University and in 2003, a PhD in History from Leiden University. He
subsequently completed an MBA degree in 2013.