Steyn, Marthinus Theunis (1857-1916), was the last president of the independent Orange Free State before it became part of South Africa. He was elected president in 1896. Steyn’s term of office coincided with British efforts to take over the Afrikaner, also called Boer, republics. Throughout this period, he remained committed to Afrikaner independence.
In 1897, Steyn signed a defensive military alliance with Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic. He supported Kruger when the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 broke out in October 1899 and fought on to the end. When the war ended, in May 1902, Steyn was in bad health. But he served as vice president of the national convention that drew up a constitution for a united, self-governing South Africa in 1908.
Steyn was born on Oct. 2, 1857, in Rietfontein, near Winburg, in what is now the province of Free State. He died on Nov. 28, 1916.
