Jan Christian Smuts (1870-1950) was born in the Cape Colony, of Dutch origin. He graduated in science and literature from Stellenbosch in 1891, before attending Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1894, where he studied law. He was admitted to the Cape bar in 1895. In 1896 he moved to the Transvaal, and became state attorney in 1898, and colonial secretary and minister of education, 1907-1910. He was minister of defence in the Union government, 1910-1919, as a member of the South African Party under Louis Botha. In 1916 he was commissioned as lieutenant-general in the British Army to command the imperial forces in East Africa. He represented the Union at the imperial conference and war cabinet in 1917 and remained as a member of the British war cabinet. He was one of the chief sponsors of the League of Nations. Smuts was prime minister of South Africa between 1919 and 1924, during which time he suppressed the Rand rebellion (1922). He was defeated in the election of 1924, and spent a long period in opposition, before entering a coalition as deputy prime minister under J.B.M. Hertzog, 1933-1939. In 1934 the United South African National Party was formed from the combining of their respective parties. Smuts was prime minister again from 1939 to 1948, and field-marshal in 1941. He also served as chancellor of the universities of Cape Town, 1936-1950, and of Cambridge, 1948-1950.
From the guide to the Jan Christian Smuts: Correspondence, 20th century, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)
