Isaac Tribolet (or Tribolt) was appointed as a lecturer at the Elsenburg School of Agriculture, just outside Stellenbosch, in March 1905. He taught viticulture and horticulture, and was also experienced in the treatment of fruit trees. Two articles by him were published in the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope during his first few years at Elsenburg: "The manuring of fruit trees and vines" (1906, Vol. 29, pp. 383-392) and "Report on grafted American resistant [against phylloxera] vines" (1908, Vol. 33, pp. 57-59). After the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 he was re-appointed (in April 1912) as lecturer in horticulture at the same institution. That year, while on leave in Europe, he was asked to attend the Congress of Vine Culture in Pamplona, Spain. Two articles written by him were published in the Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa around this time: "Caprification of Smyrna figs" (1912, Vol. 3) and "American stocks for Cape vineyards" (1912, Vol. 4). He became a member of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1917, by which time he was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society. In 1919 he was appointed chief of the Division of Horticulture of the Union Department of Agriculture in Pretoria. That year he published a pamphlet on Olives in South Africa (Johannesburg, 1919, 25p) and a few years later a comprehensive article on "Fruit drying" in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture (April 1923, pp. 346-356).

Tribolet married Lucy Maria Somerset Herbert in Cape Town on 7 October 1922, but they had no children. In 1926 he retired and settled at Golden Valley, near Somerset East.

List of sources:
Agricultural Journal (Union of South Africa), 1912, Vol. 3-4, articles by Tribolet.

Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, 1906, Vol. 29 and 1908, Vol. 33: Articles by Tribolet.

British 1820 Settlers to South Africa. Transcribed marriage entries for HERBERT. Retrieved on 25 February 2021 from https://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/settlerbrowsemarrs.php?name=HERBERT

Cape of Good Hope. Civil service list, 1910.

Cape of Good Hope. Report of the Principal of the Agricultural School at Elsenburg, 1906-1909.

FamilySearch: Isaac Tribolt. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GLBP-714

Google scholar. http://scholar.google.co.za/ , publications by I. Tribolet.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Tribolet, Isaac / Tribolet, J. / Tribolet, R. / Mr Tribolet.

South African Association for the Advancement of Science. Report, 1918, list of members.

South African bibliography to the year 1925. London: Mansell, 1979.

Union of South Africa. Public service list, 1914.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2026-01-23 10:28:12