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The Soul of the Ape
This is a new edition of this important work which was first published in 1969, 33 years after Marais's death. He was the first man to conduct a prolonged study of primates in the wild.
205 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Eugène N. Marais
25 books14 followersMarais ('mah-REH', silent s) was the thirteenth and last child of his parents, Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais and Catharina. He attended school in Pretoria, Boshof and Paarl and much of his early education was in English, as were his earliest poems.
After leaving school he worked as a legal clerk and later as a journalist before becoming owner (at the age of twenty) of a newspaper called Land en Volk. He involved himself deeply in local politics.
He began taking opiates at an early age and graduated to morphine (then considered to be non-habitforming and a safer drug) very soon thereafter. He became addicted: An addiction that ruled his affairs and actions to a greater or lesser extent throughout his life. When asked for the reasons for taking drugs, he variously pleaded ill health, insomnia and, later, the untimely death of his wife. Much later, he blamed accidental addiction while ill with malaria in Mozambique.
He married Aletta Beyers but she died from puerperal fever a year later, eight days after the birth of their son, Marais' only child.
In 1897 - still in his mid-twenties - he went to London, initially to read medicine. However, under pressure from his friends, he entered the Inner Temple to study law and qualified as an advocate.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899, he was put on parole as an enemy alien in London. During the latter part of the war he joined a German expedition that sought to ship ammunition and medicines to the Boer Commandos via Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). However, he was struck down by malaria and before the supplies could be delivered to the Boers the war ended.
From 1905 he studied nature in the Waterberg (Water mountain) and wrote in Afrikaans about the animals he observed. His studies of termites led him to the conclusion that the colony should be considered as a single organism. Although Marais could not have known it, he was anticipating some of the ideas of Richard Dawkins. In the Waterberg Marais also studied the black mamba, spitting cobra and puff adder as well as observing baboon troops at length. He was the father of the scientific study of the behaviour of primates.
His book "Die Siel van die Mier" (the "Soul of the White Ant") was plagiarized by Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck, who published "The Life of the White Ant" in 1926, falsely claiming many of Marais' revolutionary ideas as his own.
Marais contemplated legal action against Maeterlinck but gave up the idea in the face of the costs and logistics involved. Marais had by now for some time been a morphine addict and suffered from melancholy, insomnia, depression and feelings of isolation.
In 1936, deprived of morphine for some days, he finally borrowed a shotgun (on the pretext of killing a snake) and shot himself in the chest. The wound was not fatal and Marais therefore placed the end of the weapon in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Marais is amongst the greatest of the Afrikaans poets and remains one of the most popular, although his output was not large. Along with J.H.H. de Waal and G.S. Preller, he was a leading light in the Second Afrikaans (language) Movement in the period immediately after the Second Boer War, which ended in 1902. Some of his finest poems deal with the wonders of life and nature but he also wrote about inexorable Death. Although an Afrikaner patriot, Marais was sympathetic to the cultural values of the black tribal peoples of the Transvaal; this is seen in poems such as "Die Dans van die Reën" (The dance of the rain).
After leaving school he worked as a legal clerk and later as a journalist before becoming owner (at the age of twenty) of a newspaper called Land en Volk. He involved himself deeply in local politics.
He began taking opiates at an early age and graduated to morphine (then considered to be non-habitforming and a safer drug) very soon thereafter. He became addicted: An addiction that ruled his affairs and actions to a greater or lesser extent throughout his life. When asked for the reasons for taking drugs, he variously pleaded ill health, insomnia and, later, the untimely death of his wife. Much later, he blamed accidental addiction while ill with malaria in Mozambique.
He married Aletta Beyers but she died from puerperal fever a year later, eight days after the birth of their son, Marais' only child.
In 1897 - still in his mid-twenties - he went to London, initially to read medicine. However, under pressure from his friends, he entered the Inner Temple to study law and qualified as an advocate.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899, he was put on parole as an enemy alien in London. During the latter part of the war he joined a German expedition that sought to ship ammunition and medicines to the Boer Commandos via Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). However, he was struck down by malaria and before the supplies could be delivered to the Boers the war ended.
From 1905 he studied nature in the Waterberg (Water mountain) and wrote in Afrikaans about the animals he observed. His studies of termites led him to the conclusion that the colony should be considered as a single organism. Although Marais could not have known it, he was anticipating some of the ideas of Richard Dawkins. In the Waterberg Marais also studied the black mamba, spitting cobra and puff adder as well as observing baboon troops at length. He was the father of the scientific study of the behaviour of primates.
His book "Die Siel van die Mier" (the "Soul of the White Ant") was plagiarized by Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck, who published "The Life of the White Ant" in 1926, falsely claiming many of Marais' revolutionary ideas as his own.
Marais contemplated legal action against Maeterlinck but gave up the idea in the face of the costs and logistics involved. Marais had by now for some time been a morphine addict and suffered from melancholy, insomnia, depression and feelings of isolation.
In 1936, deprived of morphine for some days, he finally borrowed a shotgun (on the pretext of killing a snake) and shot himself in the chest. The wound was not fatal and Marais therefore placed the end of the weapon in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Marais is amongst the greatest of the Afrikaans poets and remains one of the most popular, although his output was not large. Along with J.H.H. de Waal and G.S. Preller, he was a leading light in the Second Afrikaans (language) Movement in the period immediately after the Second Boer War, which ended in 1902. Some of his finest poems deal with the wonders of life and nature but he also wrote about inexorable Death. Although an Afrikaner patriot, Marais was sympathetic to the cultural values of the black tribal peoples of the Transvaal; this is seen in poems such as "Die Dans van die Reën" (The dance of the rain).
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 12, 2009
This book was mind-altering. I had never read any work that attempted to understand animal behavior from the inside out. Marais lived near and observed baboons in their natural habitat for a very long time, which raises this above mere speculation and lab experiment. Marais was a poet as well, and this shows in his evocation of baboon spirit, and his poetic writing. I think this quality also raises The Soul of the Ape far above the usual animal behavior accounts. I intend to read this again and comment further. For now, I can't recommend the book too highly, at least to those who are not so all-fired certain that animals have no emotional intelligence. Marais obliterates that presumption.
May 1, 2013
Not easy bedtime reading, but having enjoyed the movie about Eugene Marais, I wanted to give 'The Soul' a try. It was fascinating, if academic, with a long, effusive foreword by an admiring published fellow ethologist/zoologist. I will never be able to look at baboons again without remembering the underrated scientist and literary figure that EM was. His ground-breaking studies of the evolution of the primate brain received scant recognition in his lifetime although his work was plagiarised. The chapter on baboons' addiction to hallucinogenic 'poisons' is ironic, considering the author's own addiction to morphine and his suicide.
October 1, 2020
Written so long ago there is some outdated information, but nevertheless found this book extraordinary and thought provoking.
Read
January 18, 2021I read the original Afrikaans edition from his collected works, but it seems pretty different (at least shorter) than the English one my flatmate has. There are so many iterations of this thing! Might have to suck it up and read it in English ugh. Anyway, dark shit
April 1, 2020
Kosutav teos! Oi, kuis olin ihanud miskit teaduslikumat lugeda ilukirjanduslike teoste vahele.
Eugene N. Marais oli igatahes tolleaja üks silmapaistvamaid lavataguseid, kes siiani teiste liigse esiletungi pärast tahaplaanile on jäänud. Tema mõtisklusi ja kirjutist lugeda oli ääretult põnev. 3 aastat omapäi tšakmapaavianite hulgas elutsemine!
Suur tänu ka eessõnale autorile Robert Audreyle, kes avas mulle tolle ajastu konteksti ja ka kirjanikku ennast. Eessõna oli omaette kunstiteos!
Mõtteid:
Lugeda tuleb alati teose kirjutatud aja kontekstis. 17. sajandi inimene ei olnud loll, ta oli selle aja tark ja meie oleme targad ainult tänu temale. Me ronime edasi tänu iga põlvkonna täiustatud redelile. Me ei pea ärgates hakkama algusest, me ei pea hakkama avastama elektrone ja leiutama lennukeid, need tööd on meie jaoks juba ära tehtud, tänu olgu tegijatele, meie saame hakata peale sealt, kust nemad oma töö lõpetasid, meie saame hakata lahendama kvantfüüsika mõistatusi ja leiutama kiiremaid ja paremaid lennumasinaid.
Füleetiline v/s kausaalne mälu. Kaasasündinud instinktiivne käitumismuster v/s põhjus-tagajärg arenemisvõimeline käitumismuster.
Hesperiidne depressioon - nüüd mõistan ma, millest poeet Chopin oma nokturnid kirjutanud on. Vajab läbimõtlemist ja uurimist!
Eugene N. Marais jutustab õhtupoolikul jõe kaldal ümberkaudsete perede lastele oma seiklustest ja tähelepanekutest, seejärel kõnnib koju ja lakub üksinda nurgas oma haavu. Eksistentsiaalne kriis - küsimus meie olemise kohta on ja jääb, kellele rõhub rohkem, kellele vähem, Marais'le sai sellest küllalt.
Eugene N. Marais oli igatahes tolleaja üks silmapaistvamaid lavataguseid, kes siiani teiste liigse esiletungi pärast tahaplaanile on jäänud. Tema mõtisklusi ja kirjutist lugeda oli ääretult põnev. 3 aastat omapäi tšakmapaavianite hulgas elutsemine!
Suur tänu ka eessõnale autorile Robert Audreyle, kes avas mulle tolle ajastu konteksti ja ka kirjanikku ennast. Eessõna oli omaette kunstiteos!
Mõtteid:
Lugeda tuleb alati teose kirjutatud aja kontekstis. 17. sajandi inimene ei olnud loll, ta oli selle aja tark ja meie oleme targad ainult tänu temale. Me ronime edasi tänu iga põlvkonna täiustatud redelile. Me ei pea ärgates hakkama algusest, me ei pea hakkama avastama elektrone ja leiutama lennukeid, need tööd on meie jaoks juba ära tehtud, tänu olgu tegijatele, meie saame hakata peale sealt, kust nemad oma töö lõpetasid, meie saame hakata lahendama kvantfüüsika mõistatusi ja leiutama kiiremaid ja paremaid lennumasinaid.
Füleetiline v/s kausaalne mälu. Kaasasündinud instinktiivne käitumismuster v/s põhjus-tagajärg arenemisvõimeline käitumismuster.
Hesperiidne depressioon - nüüd mõistan ma, millest poeet Chopin oma nokturnid kirjutanud on. Vajab läbimõtlemist ja uurimist!
Eugene N. Marais jutustab õhtupoolikul jõe kaldal ümberkaudsete perede lastele oma seiklustest ja tähelepanekutest, seejärel kõnnib koju ja lakub üksinda nurgas oma haavu. Eksistentsiaalne kriis - küsimus meie olemise kohta on ja jääb, kellele rõhub rohkem, kellele vähem, Marais'le sai sellest küllalt.
December 9, 2023
I came to this book by Marais through Robert Ardrey, who dedicated his African Genesis to him. I got my copy of The Soul of the Ape from a friend in 1973 but like many, apart from a quick flip though, it has sat on the bookshelf (in two continents) for some 50 years. I was reading all I could find of primates and Ardrey's books in the late 1960s into 70s. As Ardrey said, Marais immersed himself in a baboon troup and understood as a result where much of our primate-evolved nature comes from. In 1976 I was fortunate to go to Kenya ans was taken to the rift valley where with scientists then studying the 'famous' National Geographic Pumphouse Gang, I walked with them and the baboons over two days, learning so much about the apes as well as myself - how not to fear, how toreact when a male baboon 'charges' you, where you and others 'sit' within the troop hierarchy. Here I met Henry, the amazing young baboon that had survived with rare human intervention the burning of his hands on an electric fence and as a consequence, grew up standing walking and running bipedally with no adverse effects. Marais' book is well worth a read if you wish to explore our own evolutionary path as social apes.
July 7, 2020
The first part was fascinating. The idea that baboons in captivity are liable to become tobacco addicts is something that never occured to me, for example. His work on addiction is all the more poignant knowing that he himself was a morphine addict.
The following is a quote from a letter Marais wrote which sums up the reason why the work is worthy of investigation.
"No man can ever attain to anywhere near a true conception of the subconscious in man who does not know the primates under natural conditions."
Unfortunately the last part of the book seems rough and unfinished. Comparisons between human subjects and baboons- more like lab. notes than a finished product.
The following is a quote from a letter Marais wrote which sums up the reason why the work is worthy of investigation.
"No man can ever attain to anywhere near a true conception of the subconscious in man who does not know the primates under natural conditions."
Unfortunately the last part of the book seems rough and unfinished. Comparisons between human subjects and baboons- more like lab. notes than a finished product.
July 1, 2025
This is a remarkable look at the evolution of the brain and sense of memory. A comparison is made between instinctive memory and experienced memory, and a theory formulated that as a "more" evolved species loses their instincts they gain the ability to access more causal memory and therefore are able to gain a natural advantage. How this holds up a hundred years after originally being written and the science being far more advanced now I'm not sure, but it poses some interesting questions and the very essence of humanity is examined. The evolution of consciousness, sense of self and the "soul".
May 14, 2018
Translation to Estonian by Markus Vetemaa
April 27, 2025
A wonderful, yet incomplete manuscript by one of the keenest observers South Africa's soil has delivered.
August 26, 2025
so interesting
May 30, 2024
Not an easy reading, but because of the mindblowing content Marais recorded. A book I deeply enjoyed. It changed my perspective on human behavior and made me question (in the good way) some human phenomena. Im still integrating and digesting even now what I just read.
What people call instinct, our “heart speaking to us”, its merely an expression of our deeper animal part that is more present in all the less-intelligent animals. Im not saying its bad, just that it doesnt have a “magical” or spiritual origin as many people claim. Instinct can be certainly good, but as Marais said, fully depending on it would limit a species to a certain environment, just as most animals that would most likely perish if you change their environment (as we currently see with global warming).
What people call instinct, our “heart speaking to us”, its merely an expression of our deeper animal part that is more present in all the less-intelligent animals. Im not saying its bad, just that it doesnt have a “magical” or spiritual origin as many people claim. Instinct can be certainly good, but as Marais said, fully depending on it would limit a species to a certain environment, just as most animals that would most likely perish if you change their environment (as we currently see with global warming).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews