Jan H. Hofmeyr
| Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Administrator of the Transvaal | |
|
In office 1924–1929 |
|
| Minister of Finance and Education | |
|
In office 5 September 1939 – 25 May 1948 |
|
| Deputy Prime Minister | |
|
In office 1943–1948 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 March 1894 Cape Town, Cape Colony |
| Died | 3 December 1948 (aged 54) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party |
South African Party United Party |
| Alma mater |
South African College Schools University of Cape Town Balliol College, Oxford |
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (20 March 1894 – 3 December 1948) was a South African politician and intellectual in the years preceding apartheid. In his lifetime he was regarded as one of the cleverest men in the country, and it was widely expected that he would eventually become Prime Minister of South Africa. He came from a well-known Afrikaner family; his uncle, also Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, but known affectionately as "Onze Jan" among fellow Afrikaners, was a famous figure in the Afrikaans language movement.
Hofmeyr was born in Cape Town on 20 March 1894. He was baptised Jan Frederick Hendrik Hofmeyr, but the middle-name Frederick fell into disuse very quickly. Later in his life he would be known to many as "Hoffie", this diminutive form of his surname even being used in cartoons of Hofmeyr published in South African newspapers.
He was raised by his widowed mother, Deborah (a cousin to Christiaan Beyers), after his father Andries Brink Hofmeyr died when Jan was three years old. Deborah had another son who was five years older than Jan, his brother Andries Beyers Hofmeyr. Jan also had two stepsisters from a previous marriage of his father. Deborah devoted most of her energies to Jan, and he was the child with whom she had by far the strongest bond. This strong relationship was probably formed when Jan fell ill with hydrocephaly at the age of two; the child soon recovered and according to the medical wisdom of the day it was felt that he would either become a genius or an idiot. As it turned out he would be a genius.
Jan was first educated at the illustrious South African College Schools, which he entered in January 1902. A child prodigy, he progressed rapidly through its grades so that he matriculated four years later in 1906. He went on to study classics at the University of Cape Town (then still known as the South African College) and in 1909 graduated B.A. with first-class Honours at the age of 15. At this time he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford. He accepted the award but only made use of it a few years later when he was older. In the meanwhile he took another B.A. in the sciences in 1910 and an M.A. in classics in 1911, when he was just seventeen years old. Apart from his studies, Hofmeyr also became active in the university's Debating Society (succeeding Oliver Schreiner as its president), worked as treasurer in its College magazine, and volunteered in its Students' Christian Association.
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