Pienaar is a surname of Huguenot origin (originally Pinard from western and central France, meaning "small coin change" and "sort of wine", now Argot French "wine") that is particularly common in South Africa.
John Pienaar | Steven Pienaar | Pierre Pienaar | Peet Pienaar | Francois Pienaar | Dan Pienaar |
Pienaar is portrayed by Matt Damon in the movie Invictus, released in December 2009, which focuses on the story of the 1995 World Cup.
From 1922 to 1937 he was married to Henrietta Cecile Pienaar, who was a descendant of Andrew Murray, and whose father was a minister of the NG Kerk at Somerset West.
The victory on home soil in 1995 touched people far beyond rugby's normal constituency, and will be best remembered for Nelson Mandela, wearing the captain's No 6 shirt, embracing the captain Francois Pienaar after South Africa's victory, a scene recreated in the movie Invictus.
Rugby union is the national obsession among many white, mostly Afrikaans speaking South Africans, and Pienaar wanted on to explore the homoerotic aspect of the myths and hero-worship with which players are treated, and the constructs which define masculinity in a patriarchal society.