FREDERIK WILLEM DE KLERK was born in Johannesburg on 18 th March 1936. His school years were spent mainly in Krugersdorp, where he matriculated at the Monument High School. He attended the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and graduated in 1958 with BA and LLB degrees (cum laude). During his university years he was actively involved in student affairs.
Mr De Klerk joined a firm of attorneys in Vereeniging and soon took the lead in numerous community activities. In January 1973 he was offered the Chair of Administrative Law at Potchefstroom University. This he had to decline, however, since he had been elected as Member of Parliament for Vereeniging in November 1972.
His appointment to Cabinet followed shortly after his 42 nd birthday in 1978. He was responsible for the following portfolios consecutively:
Posts and Telecommunications and Social Welfare and Pensions; Sport and Recreation; Mining and Environmental Planning; Mineral and Energy Affairs; Internal Affairs, as well as the Civil Service, by delegation of the Prime Minister; and National Education, the portfolio which he held up to his election as State President.
On 1 st July 1985 Mr De Klerk became Chairman of the Ministers' Council in the House of Assembly. He became Leader of the House of Assembly on 1 st December 1986.
Mr De Klerk's election as Leader of the National Party on 2 nd February 1989 followed on his leadership of the National Party in Transvaal since 6 th March 1982. He relinquished the latter position on 21 st October 1989.
On 15 th August 1989 Mr De Klerk was elected and sworn in as Acting State President of South Africa. On 15 th September 1989 he was unanimously elected as State President in Cape Town. He was sworn in as Executive State President in Pretoria on 20 th September 1989. The Decoration for Meritorious Service was awarded to him in 1981.
In 1992, in Paris, France, he received the Prix du Courage Internationale (Prize for Political Courage) and was co-recipient of the UNESCO Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize. He also received the Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain. In July 1993 Mr De Klerk was awarded the Philadelphia Peace Medal and on 10 th December the same year he received the Nobel Peace Prize as co-recipient in Oslo, Norway.
Mr De Klerk has received honorary doctorates from the Potchefstroom University for Higher Education; the University of Stellenbosch; the Bar-Ilan University in Tel-Aviv; the National Chengchi University in Taipei: Republic of China; the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels; the University of South Africa; the University of Zululand and the Brunel University in the United Kingdom. In 1994 Mr De Klerk received the Honorary Fellowship Award of the College of Medicine of South Africa.
After leading the National Party to the second place in South Africa's general elections on 27 th April 1994, Mr De Klerk was inaugurated as one of the two Executive Deputy Presidents of the Republic of South Africa on 10 th May 1994.
The Federal Council of the National Party decided to withdraw from the Government of National Unity on 30 th June 1996 and Mr De Klerk became Leader of the Official Opposition.
On 26 th August 1997 Mr De Klerk announced his decision to retire from active politics with effect from 9 th September 1997.
Since his retirement from active politics in September 1997, former President FW De Klerk has been active in many fields.
Mr De Klerk is very fond of reading and the outdoor life and likes a game of golf when his busy schedule permits.
His first priority was to finish his autobiography, 'The Last Trek, A New Beginning'. The book, which was launched in January 1999 in South Africa and London and later that year in the USA, gave him the opportunity to put 'his side of the story'. Almost immediately after that Mr De Klerk started working on the establishment of a Foundation to promote peace in multicultural societies. The Foundation, which stands outside of party politics, is now well under way and is involved with a number of exciting projects.
Mr De Klerk has been very active in the international speech and conference circuit. He delivers many speeches in the USA and Europe and regularly attends international conferences where he is a much sought after speaker on the problems of multicultural communities, the challenges of the new millennium, peace negotiations and change management.
Mr and Mrs De Klerk also farm near Paarl and hope one day to produce their own wine. |
