J. C. Smuts
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Field Marshal The Right Honourable Jan Smuts OM, CH, ED, PC, KC, FRS |
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|---|---|
Smuts in 1947
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| 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa | |
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In office 5 September 1939 – 4 June 1948 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| Governor-General |
Sir Patrick Duncan Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet (Acting) Gideon Brand van Zyl |
| Preceded by | James Barry Munnik Hertzog |
| Succeeded by | Daniel François Malan |
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In office 3 September 1919 – 30 June 1924 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Governor-General |
The Earl of Buxton HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught The Earl of Athlone |
| Preceded by | Louis Botha |
| Succeeded by | James Barry Munnik Hertzog |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jan Christiaan Smuts 24 May 1870 Bovenplaats, Cape Colony |
| Died | 11 September 1950 (aged 80) Irene, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party |
South African Party United Party |
| Spouse(s) | Issie Krige |
| Children | Jannie Louis Japie Sylma Santa Cato |
| Alma mater |
Christ's College, Cambridge Inns of Court |
| Profession | Barrister |
| Signature |  |
| Early life 1870–1895 |
| Transvaal 1895–1899 |
| Boer War 1899–1902 |
| British Transvaal 1902–1910 |
| The Old Boers 1910–1914 |
Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts OM, CH, ED, PC, KC, FRS (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth , military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948. Although Smuts had originally advocated racial segregation and opposed the enfranchisement of black Africans, his views changed and he backed the Fagan Commission's findings that complete segregation was impossible. Smuts subsequently lost the 1948 election to hard-line Afrikaners who created apartheid. He continued to work for reconciliation and emphasised the British Commonwealth’s positive role until his death in 1950.
He led a Boer Commando in the Second Boer War for the Transvaal. During the First World War, he led the armies of South Africa against Germany, capturing German South-West Africa and commanding the British Army in East Africa.
From 1917 to 1919, he was also one of the members of the British Imperial War Cabinet and he was instrumental in the founding of what became the Royal Air Force (RAF). He became a field marshal in the British Army in 1941, and served in the Imperial War Cabinet under Winston Churchill. He was the only man to sign both of the peace treaties ending the First and Second World Wars. A statue of him stands in London's Parliament Square.
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Wikipedia