Smuts, Jan Christiaan, 1870-1950

Jan Christiaan Smuts was born on May 24, 1870, in Swartland, Cape, South Africa.

He was a South African statesman, military leader, and philosopher. He was educated at Victoria College, Stellenbosch and Christ's College, Cambridge. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1894 but returned home in 1895 and practiced law in Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. During the Second Boer War, Smuts commanded a force against the British with the rank of general. In 1902, he played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the war and resulted in the annexation of the South African Republic and Orange Free State into the British Empire. Smuts played a leading role in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, helping shape its constitution. He and Botha established the South African Party, with Botha becoming the union's first prime minister and Smuts holding multiple cabinet portfolios. However, when World War I broke out in 1914, Smuts became a staunch defender of the Allied cause. In 1918, he published a pamphlet titled “The League of Nations: A Practical Suggestion.” He played a leading role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, advocating for the creation of the League of Nations and securing South African control over the former German South-West Africa. From 1919 to 1924, and from 1939 to 1948, he was Prime Minister of South Africa. In 1926, he published his only philosophical work, “Holism and Evolution.” In 1941, Smuts was appointed a field marshal of the British Army. In 1945, he represented South Africa in San Francisco at the drafting of the United Nations Charter. He was a leading guest at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1948, he was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, becoming the first person outside the United Kingdom to hold that position.

In 1897, he married Sybilla Margaret Krige (1870–1954). He died on September 11, 1950, in Irene, Transvaal, South Africa.