Verwoerd, Hendrik << fuhr VOORT, HEHN drihk >> (1901-1966), was prime minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966. He was the main architect of South Africa’s policy of racial segregation called apartheid. This policy was officially in effect from 1948 to 1991.
Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd was born on Sept. 8, 1901, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He came with his family to South Africa in 1903. He studied at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and at universities in Europe and the United States. From 1927 to 1937, he taught at the University of Stellenbosch.
While at the university, Verwoerd joined the National Party. The party sought to unify Afrikaners (whites of mainly Dutch ancestry) as a nation and protect their interests. In 1937, Verwoerd became editor of the party newspaper, Die Transvaler. After the party won elections in 1948, Verwoerd was appointed to the Senate. As minister of native affairs from 1950 to 1958, he worked hard to further develop the apartheid policy. After Verwoerd became prime minister, the police and military received extensive powers to enforce racial segregation. Verwoerd also oversaw the creation of separate black African homelands, which were granted limited self-rule. Verwoerd survived an assassination attempt in 1960, but on Sept. 6, 1966, he was stabbed to death by a mentally ill parliamentary messenger.
See also Apartheid ; South Africa, History of .
