Smuts, Jan Christian

Smuts, Jan Christian (1870-1950), South African statesman.

Jan Smuts was a member of a Dutch family born near Cape Town.

In the Boer War (1899-1902) he was a general fighting for the Boers against Britain.

Afterwards he helped to form the Union of South Africa and became a member of its government.

In the First World War (1914-18) Smuts fought for Britain against the Germans in East Africa.

From 1919-24, he was Prime Minister of South Africa. Then for a time he was a lecturer at Oxford University. But in 1939, he became Prime Minister again.

He led South Africa as an ally of Britain in the Second World War (1939-45) and resigned in 1948.

Smuts was respected all over the world as a statesman, and he wrote the introduction to the Charter of the United Nations.

See Old Master: The Life of Jan Christian Smuts ~ Rene Kraus