Cecil Schulz (also Julius Antonius Ceacilius Schulz) was a son of Dr (Theodor Rudolph) Julius Schulz* of Durban and his wife Maria Louise Anna Nixen, and older brother of Dr Julius Antonius Aurelius Schulz*. He learned much about medicine from his father and in 1877, at the age of only 21, passed the German Staatsexamen and qualified as Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Berlin. Upon his return to Natal he settled in Durban and was licensed to practice in October 1877. Later he led a roving life, practicing or prospecting in Pietermaritzburg, Kimberley, Barberton and Swaziland. He was licensed to practice in the South African Republic (Transvaal) in 1887. Early the next year he settled in Johannesburg and in 1890 succeeded Dr J (Hans) Sauer* as district surgeon. He served also on the town's Sanitary Committee, initially as a government nominee but later as vice-chairman. He successfully applied for naturalization as a citizen of the South African Republic in January 1892. The next year he was appointed as a member of the Central Smallpox Committee, formed to deal with an outbreak of the disease on the Witwatersrand.

Schulz has been described as "bull-necked and of Teutonic aspect" (Gutsche, 1979, p. 63). In June 1894 he and the government veterinarian, Arnold Theiler* began examining the quality of Johannesburg's water supply. The next year they published a report titled Bacteriological examination of water taken from the waterworks' hydrants at Johannesburg during the months of January, February, March and April 1895 (Johannesburg, May 1895).

Schulz remained in Johannesburg until at least 1900, when he provided medical help during the early stages of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). By 1908 he resided at or near Ingogo, a railway station just north of Newcastle in Natal, from where he requested permission to conduct vaccinations in the Utrecht district. In 1916, during World War I (1914-1918) he applied for a passport to visit England.

List of sources:

Burrows, E.H. A history of medicine in South Africa. Cape Town: Balkema, 1958.

FamilySearch: De Julius Antonius Caecilius (Cecil) Schulz. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/M43C-8ZS

Gutsche, T. There was a man. The life and times of Sir Arnold Theiler, KCMG, of Onderstepoort. Cape Town: Timmins, 1979.

Natal almanac, directory and yearly register, 1880, 1890: Medical men.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Schulz, Cecil / Schulz, C.

Reitz, O.G. August Hammar, 1856-1931. South African Survey Journal, 1968, Vol. 11(4), pp. 31-38.

Rosenthal, E. Southern African dictionary of national biography. London: F. Warne, 1966.

South African medical directory for 1897. Cape Town: Cape Times, 1897.

Staats-almanak der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, 1896, 1898: Naamlijst van de geadmitteerde genees-, heel- en verloskundigen...

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2025-11-15 12:19:11