Ockert Tobias De Villiers, veterinarian, was the son of Johannes Nicolaas de Villiers and his wife Aletta Jacoba, born De Roubaix. He qualified (MRCVS) in Dublin in 1923 and obtained a DVSc from the University of South Africa in 1937 for his thesis The blood of the ostrich. The thesis was published in the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry in 1938. On his return to South Africa from Dublin he served as government veterinary officer at Kroonstad and several other places before being appointed as lecturer in veterinary science at the Grootfontein College of Agriculture in 1930. In 1934 he was appointed senior lecturer and in 1953 promoted to professor in veterinary science at the University of Stellenbosch, where he retired in 1963. In the same year he was awarded an Honorary Diploma by the University of the Free State. His publications included 'The vermicidal effects of spineless cactus (Opuntia sp.)' (with G. Mare; Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1935, Vol. 6(2), pp. 121-7) and 'Animal diseases dangerous to man' (Farming in South Africa, 1952, Vol. 17, pp. 465-466).

De Villiers was survived by his wife Margaretha Francina, born Schimper, and two daughters.

List of sources:

De Bruyn, G.F.C. Professore: Universiteit van Stellenbosch en voorgangers. Kaapstad: Nasionale Handelsdrukkery, 1989.

De Villiers, O.T. The blood of the ostrich. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry, 1938, Vol. 11, pp. 419-504.

FamilySearch: Ockert Tobias de Villiers. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-LBHQ-95D?view=index&personArk=/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Y8-K73Q&action=view and https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G814-B3P

Google scholar. http://scholar.google.co.za Publications by O.T. de Villiers.

Posthumus, P.J. Past Veterinarians in South Africa, Vol. 1, 10th edition, [1992].

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2024-01-31 11:25:15